The 30th Annual Hunger Games
by Taylor1103
Summary: Stiles, Topanga, Billi, Lex, and Zila. Five of the most memorable tributes in the 30th Annual Hunger Games. They held the five top scores of the year and managed to win the hearts of all the viewers. Everyone loved them, everyone wanted them to win, but there could only be one Victor. The Capital wasn't happy with the end results. Rated T because of (mild) language and violence.
1. Chapter 1 - The Reaping

**Author Note: This is only my 2nd fan-fiction and I had written my first one before reading The Hunger Games. So now that I've read the book I thought I'd try writing another one. I tried my best to introduce the 5 main characters in this chapter. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are welcome, good or bad! Any sort of feedback is good. Thank you!**

* * *

**District 2 Reaping**

**Stiles Spiller POV**

Confidence, muscle, brains, personality, and the will to win. I have it all. I've volunteered three years now, but each year the tribute picked denied volunteers. This is my last year, I must be picked, I must go into the games. I will show them I can win. I find the section roped off for eighteen-year-old males. I take a spot right up front near the isle.

Eliza, the district sponsor, is sitting next to the previous winners of The Hunger Games. I look at them, fourteen winners. I will make sure we have fifteen winners. I will be sitting up on that stage, grinning, everyone in envy of me. The square fills up quickly. Soon Eliza stands up and makes her way to the microphone in the center of the stage. I'm temporarily blinded by the silver sequin on her dress. The sun bouncing off and shining right in my eyes.

"Happy Hunger Games!" She booms into the microphone. She still hasn't figured out that the microphone magnifies her voice, so she doesn't have to talk so loudly. "I'd like to say how pleased I am to be here with all of you! What a lovely time of year! I've had the pleaser of picking several of the Victors here with us today!" She then continues to introduce our winners. Next year, she will be saying my name. She finishes introducing the Victors and cues for the video to start.

The video ends and Eliza smiles, so pleased to have all of us standing below her as she reaches into the first bowl. "Kodi Abaforth!" She booms into the microphone. I keep my eyes on the stairs. A smaller boy, perhaps thirteen or fourteen years old, makes his way onto the stage. Eliza asks him if she can ask for volunteers. And he says yes. The word is only half way out of his mouth and several of us are bolting for the stairs. But I picked the best spot. Quickly and easily I push another eighteen year old out of my way as I dash for the stairs. I made it! I am the male tribute!

I can't help but to grin as I stand next to Eliza. I spot my father in the crowd, mirroring my grin. "Your name?" Eliza asks me. "Stiles Spiller." I say, hearing my name boom around the square is incredible, it's better than I imagined. Eliza picks the girl, Penny Coleman. I know her, but not well. She denies volunteers. I see why, her arms are almost as muscular as mine, her grin only confirms that she feels the same as me. She is honored to be a victor, and she's determined to win. Too bad only one of us can, and it'll be me.

**District 3 Reaping**

**Topanga Lynn POV**

Mom makes sure my hair is pulled back perfectly. I sigh as she puts a few clips into it. Tilly, my younger sister, runs into the room. "Me next! Me next!" She says, hopping up and down next to the bed mom and I are sitting on. Mom agrees to do her hair up next. Tilly is only three. After mom finishes with my hair I go into the kitchen and wash my hands one more time. I always seem to get dirt under my nails even when I'm sitting in one spot. Mom finished Tilly's hair up quickly then we make our way to the square. Being in District 3 it's always hard to know if we'll have volunteers. We are never part of the Careers, being we can't train for the games. But we are still in better shape than most districts, and we've managed to get two victors, both were volunteers. Since then we've had a few volunteers. I personally think it's stupid, volunteering to get yourself killed. I make my way to the sixteen-year-old section and find a spot next to my friend Gabby.

We struggle to hide our smirks as we spot our district sponsor Gloria. This year her hair is bright orange and is in tight curls falling to her shoulders. Her eyelashes are just as bright and two inches long. She greats us. I attempt to zone out as she introduces the Victors and explains why we are here. Then she reaches into the male tributes bowl. I don't know him, and no one volunteers. I tense slightly as she reaches into the females bowl. Her eyes narrow, not good, then she calls the name out. "Topanga Lynn." Damn. I close my eyes. I can't move. I hear Gabby gasp, but then she places her hand on my shoulder and give me a little nudge. I open my eyes and make my way up to the stage. "I do hope I said that correctly." She chirps. I nod. She said it correctly. "Great! But first, any volunteers?" None. I swallow the lump in my through. I cannot cry on this stage. "Why don't we have a round of applause for our two brave tributes!" The crowd claps. Then I shake Jared Hollarwell's hand.

**District 4 Reaping**

**Billi Link POV**

I pull my hair up in a ponytail. There is no point in trying to make it look any nicer. It's too thick and too frizzy to do anything with. The sea-salt air doesn't help, and moister only makes it thicker. Mother insist I put some light make-up on. I put some on my cheeks and mother helps me with the lipstick. It doesn't help, I've never been pretty. Make-up only makes me look desperate to try and fit in. It doesn't help that my parents gave me a boys' name. Perhaps it's because I have three older brothers. Maybe they felt it wrong to break the tradition of boy names starting with the letter 'B'. Brock, Bryon, Blake, and Billi. That's us. Blake is my twin brother, at eighteen this is the last year for both of us. Mother refuses to let us volunteer. Brock volunteered when he was seventeen, that was seven years ago. He make it to final three, but was killed by an avalanche just two days before the Victor was crowned. Mother cried for a month straight, refusing to believe Brock was never coming back.

Father, Mother, Blake, and I make our way to the square. We are separated and made to find our sections. Seven times, that's how many times my name was in that bowl. Seven out of hundreds. The odds seem to be in my favor. Ona makes her way to the microphone. She is stunning, even with green hair and bright red lips she is stunning. Everyone from the Capital is stunning. They can get surgery to look any way they want. They can change their eye color from poop brown to sky blue. They can get their oversized nose fixed to fit their face. They can get their hair thinned and made to look however they wish. I don't even hear Ona introduce our Victors, I don't notice the video playing. I'm picturing myself as a whole new person, as someone all the girls look at and wish they could be, someone all the boys notice and wish they could have. Ona reads out the male tributes name; Elijah Browning. He's younger and agrees there can be volunteers. Several males shout out at once, then race their way to the stage. Two eighteen year olds hold each other back, one busting the others noise. A sixteen year old manages to reach the stage first. He's muscular and tan. He holds his shoulders back, making him look square. Seth Downey.

Ona reaches into the female tributes bowl. "Billi Link!" She chimes into the microphone. I step forward. As I climb onto the stage I spot mother and father. Father is holding mother, she's forcing herself not to start crying. "Are you willing to let another female volunteer as tribute and take your place?" Ona asks me. I look at her, I see her bright green eyes, her round soft cheeks. I should say yes, I should let another girl take my place. I could go home, never worry about being picked for the games ever again. But I can't help but get the image of myself finally looking beautiful out of my mind. "No," I say "No, I am Districts 4's female tribute."

**District 5 Reaping**

**Lex Grovestin POV**

I point my younger brother Stephan to the section for twelve year olds. He's nervous, just like everyone else. I make my way to the fifteen year old section. Lila stands in front of us all, her polka dot dress standing out against the grey backdrop of the Justice Building. There are no Victors to introduce, so she gets to picking the Tributes quickly. She picks the first piece of paper on the pile of names in the male tribute bowl. My heart drops as she calls my name. At first I don't move. Heads turn to find me, a path clears so I can make my way to the isle. I see a peacekeeper step forward, I must go up on the stage. I barley feel my feet moving, and the only thing I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears. Lila reaches into the females bowl next. Shay Penit. I don't know her, she a year older than me. Lila beams at us and asks us to shake hands. Shay sticks out her right hand, embarrassed I must extend my left. Shay spots my injury and quickly switches hands. A few people in the crowd clapped. Then we were escorted into the Justice Building.

**District 6 Reaping**

**Zila Monument POV**

I pull my white blonde hair up in a tight bun. With my pale skin and white dress I blend easily into the white walls. Invisible. The way I like it. I slide into the kitchen in see most of the other girls have already eaten, only two slices of bread are left. I consider eating both, but I don't want to be whipped for taking someone else's food. I find the other girls gathered by the front door, waiting on permission to go. I've been in the group home for two years now, my mother died during childbirth, and two years ago my father died of illness. There are six of us at the group home, only one other girl is fourteen. We talk sometimes, mainly about school work, but she's the only girl I talk to at the group home. Mrs. Tyflynn comes to the door, young Cilia by her side. Cilia is only seven-years-old, and has been living in the group home for about a month. She's eating the last slice of bread, I'm grateful I didn't eat it. Mrs. Tyflynn tells us we can head toward the square. I follow behind the other girls, no one notices I'm not with the group anymore. We get to the booths and my finger is pricked. I scan the crowd of fourteen-year-olds and see the other girl from the group home finding her spot. I avoid her.

Once everyone is in their section Meaghan flashes her fake smile and welcomes us all there. She seems bored, and not impressed with the dress she is wearing. It was a metallic gold and seemed to cling to her body, showing off her curves. She seemed to struggle while breathing though. She introduced our one Victor, who is rumored to have an extreme drug addiction.

"Gentlemen first!" Meaghan says as she reaches into the bowl. She lets her fingers dip into the small pieces of paper. She plucks one out of the center and slowly opens it "Phillip Quard." She says into the microphone. The crowd parts so he can make his way to the stage. Meaghan flashes her smile at him. "Time for our young lady!" I cross my fingers, not me, not me. "Zila Monument." Before anyone notices I slide past the fourteen-year-old females and make my way into the isle. I'm almost to the stage before people see me. Most of them continued to look around the crowd wondering where I was. "A round of applause for a two young tributes!" Meaghan claps quickly and loudly, the crowd stays quiet. Phillip and I shake hands then make our way into the Justice Building.


	2. Chapter 2 - Goodbyes & Train Rides

**Author Note: Sorry if this chapter is a little boring. I struggled writing this chapter and considered skipping it, but I felt goodbyes with family and friends were necessary. **

* * *

**Goodbyes & Train Rides**

**Stiles Spiller POV**

My goodbyes are quick and simple. Everyone I say goodbye to knew I was volunteering, and they are proud of me. I'm escorted to the train, applause all around me as I climb on. I'm bursting with pride, and I can't help but to wave and flash a few smiles before the train pulls out of the station. I turn to see Penny Coleman shaking her head.

"Arrogance normally gets tributes killed, ya know." She says to me. I smirk at her.

"I have confidence, not arrogance. Confidence gets tributes sponsors." I say to her. Before she can reply Eliza steps into the room.

"You two getting to know each other?" She asks. "Why don't you go get ready for dinner and we'll talk then!" She still talks very loudly. It gives me a headache. I find my room and wash up. Then make my way to the dining room. It's crowded, with seventeen of us sitting around it. I made sure to quickly strict up a conversation with Desmond Harrigon. Last years' victor. He was amazing, ruthless, and won over the crowd with his signature sword throwing skills. I wanted him as my mentor. He's my age, he's shorter than me, and not as good looking. I'll soon steal the spotlight off of him.

**Topanga Lynn POV**

I'm escorted into the justice building and led into a room with a large couch. I quickly sit on the couch and curl into a small ball and let a few tears out before anyone comes to visit. I hear the doorknob turning and quickly brush the tears away as I stand up. Mom rushes over to me, Tilly in her arms. She hugs me. I breath in the smell of her hair as I hold back tears.

"I'm so sorry, mom." I say. She cries softly. Tilly suddenly realizes something is wrong.

"What's happening?" She asks. We break our hug. I take Tilly in my arms.

"Nothing, Tilly. Don't you worry about it ok. Just make sure you tell mom you love her every single morning and every single night until I get back, ok?"

Tilly nods her head, "Where are you going sissy?"

"Just away for a little while, Tilly."

"I can't come with you."

"No." I say to her, tears suddenly filling my eyes again "No, Tilly. You can't come."

"Why?" Tilly asks. Mom takes her back into her arms. She pulls me in for another hug.

"Please win," she breaths into my neck. "Please come home, Topanga."

"I'll fight like hell." I say. Peacekeepers enter the room. I give Tilly one last kiss on the cheek before they make my family leave. Gabby rushes in once they leave. She jumps on me and smoothers me with a giant hug. I hug her back.

"Kick their asses." Gabby says to me as she lets me go.

"Of course I will." I say.

"During training, find something you are best at ok. Don't try to master all the weapons, ok. Just pick one that you can use, master it, and use it non-stop." She says quickly. I nod. She hugs me then quickly leaves so I don't see her tears. Soon after I'm taken to the train. We have two previous victors. Both male. I sit across the table from Jared as our mentors pile food onto their plates. Jared and I make eye contact, both of us wondering what the green mushy stuff is.

"So, what are your plans?" Asks Cruise Natural. He won the game seven years ago. I shrug. Cruise looks at Jared, who shrugs as well. "Wow, got us some winners here." Cruise says sarcastically . I glare at him.

"Aren't you a shit storm on a sunny day." I say to him. Gloria hears me and tisks, Jared gasp, but Cruise and Westyn Light burst into laughter. Food flying from their mouths. I cringe in disgust.

"Perhaps I spoke too soon." Cruise says. He finally looks at me properly, taking in my full appearance. "Should I go with tough smartass or ditzy princess?"

"I'd see how she does during training first," Westyn says "If she can fight, tough smartass, if not, ditzy princess."

"Excuse me?" I ask sharply.

"You, Topanga, have the temper of someone who hates life. But you have the face and body of someone who enjoys it. Basically, your personality does not fit your appearance. To the audience you can only be one. A princess, or a fighter. So which one will you be?" He asks me. I cross my arms and glare at him. He laughs and continues to eat.

**Billi Link POV**

Once inside the Justice Building I realize just how bad my decision really was. I haven't had training as much as the other kids in the Career groups, Mother hated the idea of us training. Mother, she'll be devastated, she already watched one of her children die and barley survived that. Will she be able to stand another child entering the games.

My family enters the room. Blake rushes over to me and pulls me in a hug. I blink. I expected him to be angry at me. I look over his shoulder and see Father, Mother, and Bryon standing by the door. Mother is crying into Father's shoulder, I can't see her face. Blake lets me go and Bryon comes over to hug me next. I'm glad he didn't bring his wife.

"Win." He says into my ear. I nod. He lets me go. Suddenly mom is pulling me into her embrace, I didn't even see her come over. Her hair fills my face and I hear her sobs next to my ear. I pat her back, suddenly mad at myself for doing this to her.

"It's for Brock." I say. "I decided to play for Brock. He was brave. I'd hate to disgrace him by not being brave as well. If I allowed a volunteer it'd only show how weak our family is. Brock fought hard, I want to show people that is wasn't for nothing." I don't know where the lie came from, it just felt like the right thing to say, so I said it. My family seemed to understand, as if it was the right thing for me to do. I can't help but feel a weight lift off my chest in knowing that they are excepting of my decision.

My family is taken away and a couple of my friends from school come to see me. I was thankful for that, I didn't want to leave the District with the last thing I say being a lie. I'm escorted to the train, where I meet our previous victors and Seth Downey. I finally take in he's appearance. He's like a brick. He's arms are strong. He's a little on the short side but he is stocky. He's definitely done a lot of training.

**Lex Grovestin POV**

"Lex!" Mama enters through the door first, followed by my brother and Dad. Dad is angry.

"There is no way they can send you into that arena. It's unfair!" He's right, but rules are rules. Even with an injured hand I must go. "Is there any way to get a another tribute? Or to get your hand fixed before you enter?" He knows the answers to the questions already, but he's so upset and angry he asks them anyway. I hug Stephan longer than anyone. He's so small. I'm glad it's me and not him.

"I'll see you when this is all over, ok." I say to my family. Mama holds back tears. "I promise you I'll see you when this is over."

I'm taken to the train. Lila tells me and Shay to get showered and ready for dinner. I do as she says absentmindedly . My head buzzes. This is really happening. I'm really on a train headed for the capital. I'm really one of the twenty-four children reaped. I'm really going to have to go into the arena and fight for my life. I'm sitting at the dinner table, I don't even remember showering, or getting dressed.

"Who will be our mentor?" Shay asks. It's a good question, but I don't really care to hear the answer. I don't want to be here, I don't want anything to do with this. I realize there are tears in my eyes, I wipe them away quickly, hoping Lila and Shay don't see them. If they do they don't draw attention to it. Eventually one of them will ask what happened to my hand, everyone will want to know. Perhaps the question will come up in my interview. I was seven, I was really sick and had to stay home from school, dad took me to work with him for about ten minutes. I was told to stand right next to him and not touch anything. But I didn't listen, I saw a bright yellow wire and grabbed onto it. My whole hand burned, I couldn't let go of the wire no matter how hard I tried. I remember trying to scream but I couldn't, my whole body shook. Dad helped me, but my hand was already in bad condition. Halfway up to my elbow my skin was burnt. My fingers were melted together, there was nothing doctors could do for them. Now, eight years later, my hand hasn't grown, so it's small and limp, my fingers still one big lump on the end of blackened skin.

**Zila Monument POV**

I don't expect anyone to come see me off. That's why I'm so surprised to see Ms. Tyflynn. She hugs me, and tells me that she loves me. She has never told me this before, she barley speaks to me. But I tell her I love her back. Two of the girls come to see me, the other fourteen-year-old and little Cilia. I smile at them, not expecting them to care enough to come. Cilia walks up to me with something in her hand. She places it in mine. It's a small silver necklace. There is no charm on it, it's just the chain. I smile at her.

"What is this for?" I ask her.

"So you have something to hold when you miss home." She tells me.

"I can't take this." I try to hand it back to her but she won't take it. Instead I put it on, she smiles slightly. "Thank you." I tell her "I will wear it all the time."

After we say goodbye I'm taken to the train, I hear someone yell for Phillip, they sound devastated. There is no one to yell my name. That's ok though, there is less for me to leave behind than other tributes.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Mentors

**Author Note: Just a quick chapter to introduce the mentors that will be helping the tributes. I tried to work them into the train ride chapter but I was struggling with it so I just made it a chapter all on it's own.**

* * *

**The Mentors**

**Stiles Spiller POV**

Desmond Harrigon. He's strong, he's ruthless. I want him to train me. He's the best of the best, as of now anyway. I lay in bed thinking about his kills. He could throw a fully sized sword and it'd slide right into someone's throat. It was brilliant. I'm that brilliant. I can outshine him. During the Victor Tour he seemed quiet, I was bored with is appearance. After his impressive win I expected him to be an impressive person, but he isn't as impressive as I thought.

**Topanga Lynn POV**

Cruise talks a lot. He has no manners. He is rude. In a way he reminds me of myself. He's already trying to figure out how I should be represented to the Gamemakers. He already thinks I'm going to be good, I don't want to let him down. I don't want to let myself down. Will he expect me to be as good as he was? I have no weapons training. Did he before he entered the arena seven years ago? He was brilliant with an ax, he outshone those from District 7, and they start using axes at a young age.

Westyn Light seems to be the opposite of Cruise. He's quite and seems to think of others before himself. He won three years ago. It was a surprise to everyone when Westyn won. He was hurt early in the game, and he had no help from sponsors due to his low training score of five. But he managed to pull though and fix the injury up himself. He didn't make himself noticed in the game, not until he was able to get an ax himself. Once he had it he managed to win over the last few remaining tributes.

**Billi Link POV**

We have three Victors, Ernie Starsh is the newest of the victors or our District, winning ten years ago. Two years before him Gladia Cornwell won. And winning the 3rd Annual Hunger Games is Kent Bowers. He won at age sixteen. He's in his forties now, but he is still really fit. He's been training tributes longer than the others, and I want him to train me. At dinner he told me he trained my brother, and hated that he was killed in the hands of the Gamemakers, that he would have made a great Victor if that hadn't of happened. The fact that he trained my brother makes me feel like I have a connection to him.

**Lex Grovenstin POV**

District 5 has yet to have a winner. For the past thirty years Career Tributes have been dominating the games. We are told we will train with all the other Districts without Victors, and that we will be given mentors from other Districts. I don't think that works well though, perhaps that's why the Careers win so much. The Victors from those Districts don't put much effort into training tributes from other Districts so that tribute from theirs will win.

**Zila Monument POV**

Dana Hopkins is addicted to drugs. It's painfully obvious. She won at the age of fifteen during the First Quarter Quell. I can only imagine what it was like to be voted into the games. No wonder she takes pain medication. I remember watching her in the games, she had to kill three tributes to win. After her first kill she had a panic attack, and wondered around for days beating her hands against trees, cutting herself up. The male tribute from our District found her and helped her snap out of it. They managed to make it to the final two. She had to kill him at the end.


	4. Chapter 4 - Training Day 1

**Author Note: Sorry, I skipped arriving at the capital and the parade. Thank you for reading this far!**

* * *

**Training Day 1**

**Billi Link POV**

We make our way to the training station, a rather short lady with short black hair explains to us how the training center is set up. Weapons training in the back, plant studies near the front, beside that places to work on camouflage, a work-out station, a fire-starting station, and a station on how to treat wounds.

We are released to do as we please for the first couple hours. The Careers are grouped together heading toward the weapons. I jog to catch up to them. The boy from District 1 is tall, he has to be over six foot, Jasper Wicka. The girl is also tall, probably around five foot eleven, not much taller than myself, Madeline Keepsay. Stiles Spiller leads the group, he obviously thinks he is in charge. I can tell the girl from 2, Penny Coleman, does not like him. She glares at him as he states we should work with swords.

I look at Seth, "I'm going to work with the spears." I tell him. Seth and I had both discussed spear throwing. We often fish with them back home. I walk past Stiles and pick up a spear. Stiles frowns at me and narrows his eyes.

"Don't you want to work with the rest of the group?" He asks me. I balance the spear on my palm to figure it's weight. Then I turn toward the targets and throw the spear. A perfect throw.

"No..." I say slowly "I think I want to show off for a little while." I pick up another spear and throw it, it lands right beside the first.

**Lex Grovenstin POV**

I watch as the Careers head straight for the weapons. Shay walks up beside me.

"Don't worry, we'll get to work with them soon." She says to me. I nod. "Let's go to the fire station, the two kids from 9 are the only ones over there." I follow her to the station. Both of the tributes from District 9 are twelve-years-old. They look so small, like Stephan. I watch as they try to strike a fire with flint. They fail several times.

"You're doing it wrong." I say to them. They look up at me. "You aren't letting the flint catch, you are going too quickly." I kneel down beside. "Hold that knife still." I tell the boy. I take the flint from the girl and strike it against the knife, it takes me three tries but the dead grass and twigs finally light. The girl beamed.

"How did you learn to do that!?" She ask me. I shrug. It's just something my friends and I messed around with back at home when we were younger, it's a skill you never forget. I notice the girl looking at my right hand. She blushes when she realizes I caught her looking.

"Electrical accent back at home." I tell her "Not a fire." I add. She nods then puts the fire out. "When you strike it, make sure you are letting the flint go all the way down the blade, you keep pulling it up quickly and they don't have time to make friction." I tell her. She nods and tries again. I turn to help Shay, who is also struggling.

"What if I don't have a knife or flint?" She asks me. I shrug. I've never tried making a fire with just sticks before. We toss the knife and flint aside and set to work trying to start a fire with nothing but sticks, leaves, pine needles, and dead grass.

**Topanga Lynn POV**

I head straight for the work out station. I've never actually worked out a day in my life, but I do some heavy lifting of mechanical parts back home, so my arms aren't completely useless. I jump up on the bars and lift myself up. I can only do ten pull-ups before my arms are shaking and throb softly.

"Might want to stretch out first." I turn to see who is talking to me. It's the boy from 10. I don't know his name.

"Huh?" I ask him. He sits on the floor and puts his legs out in front of him, then he leans forward and touches his toes with his finger tips.

"Stretching out," He says matter-of-factly "You could easily pull a muscle of you don't stretch before a workout." Now he's spread his legs apart and is alternating between the toes he touches. I frown at him.

"Won't that just make you tired faster?" I ask him.

"Not really. It's nothing too hard." He says. He stands up and crosses his right arm over his chest, pulling at his elbow with his left hand. I copy him. My shoulder pops. "See, your muscles need to stretch out. I bet all your joints will pop."

I roll my eyes at him, we finish the stretching soon after and start working out again. I was able to do forty-six pushups, thirty sit ups, fifty-two squats, and thirteen pull-ups. I lay out on the mat, feeling like I'm going to die.

"Is that all you can do?" A girl behind me say, she is speaking in a baby voice. I sit up to look at her. I see all of the Careers watching me. How long where they there?

"Poor thing could only do thirteen pull-ups." One of the guys says.

"Bite me!" I snap at him. The Careers laugh. I stand up and walk over to them. In the corner of my eye I see some of the instructors head our way. Fighting is not allowed. "I bet I can do more than you." I say to the boy. He smirks. He thinks he's so much better than everyone else. He steps forward, only inches from me.

"Do we have a problem over here?" One of the instructors asks.

"Nope." I say. I turn from him and head to the pull up bars. He follows. What have I gotten myself into? He probably worked out for three hours a day back home. He makes a point in taking his shirt off, showing his abs. I look around the training center and see most of the eyes are on us. I'm going to humiliate myself on day one.

**Stiles Spiller POV**

The girl is stupid. She thinks she can do more pull-ups than me. I can do hundreds if I want too. She can only do thirteen. I smirk as I take my shirt off. Why not show off what you have? Almost everyone is watching us now. I grin. Wait until they see how wonderful I am. They'll all envy me, soon they'll see why I'm going to win the game.

I look at her. She stands under the bar. I stand under one for my height. "On three." I tell her.

"Three." She agrees.

"One. Two. Three." We both jump to grab our bars and I start with the pull-ups. I'm do ten quickly, already up to her record. Twenty. Thirty. Forty. Fifty. She drops. I grin and jump down onto the mat.

"How many did you do?" I ask her, grinning from ear to ear. What a wimp.

"Twenty." She says, glaring at me. The crowd moves back to what they were originally doing.

"That must have been embarrassing." I say to her. I can't keep the smirk from creeping up my face.

"Not as embarrassing as it'll be for you when I drive a knife into your face for everyone in Panem to see." She snaps back. I laugh. Does she really think she can beat me? She'd delusional. I push past her and head back toward the Careers. Madeline gleams at me.

"Why do you insist on making enemies?" Penny asks me.

"They are all my enemies," I reply "Might as well have a little fun while I can, right?" I slide my shirt back on. "Plus she's weak, she's no real threat."

"I guess." Penny says. "She has a pretty face though, she can easily get sponsors. Who knows what they'll send her."

"Nothing near as good as what they'll send me." I say, pocking my chest with my thumb. "Just wait until scoring day, I'll have the highest one here. Which is why I should be the leader of the Careers." I say, standing tall and grinning. Penny snorts. I turn to her. She is going to be a problem. "If you don't want to be a Career why don't you start figuring out how to patch up a cut throat. Because that's what you'll need on day one." Madeline is nodding her head quickly, she agrees with me. Soon Jasper nods too. "See, they agree. Either you work with the Careers or you are dead on day one." I turn to Seth and Billi. "That means you too, Billi. No more doing as you please."

**Zila Monument POV**

I'm not sure which station I should head to first. Not the weapons, the Careers went over there. Most tributes headed toward the plants, and a couple where in fire starting and wound healing. I decide to go to the camouflage station. Even though I do a pretty good job at blending in without any help. I open up some of the paints and test the colors against my skin. The blue is bright, and I don't understand why we would need it. The same with yellow and orange. I find some simple green and brown and start painting my arm to look like trees. It's a failed attempt, I'm not an artist. I walk over to the sink and start to scrub the paint off. Phillip joins me.

"Hey District partner!" He says cheerfully. "You paint?"

"No, not really." I say as I scrub my skin raw. "You?"

"Nah. Would be cool to learn though, wouldn't it." He's way to perky for me. I shrug and dry my arms. He's messing with the paints so I quickly move over to the wound healing station. There are quite a few tributes here now, but none of them notice me as I linger in the corner watching them practice wrapping up pretend cuts. Instructors start to move toward the work-out station of the training center. I watch to see what is happening. The Careers seem to be threatening one of the other girl tributes. I can't make out what they are saying but the boy from 2 gets in her face. She doesn't look scared at all. Instead she walks away with her head held high and goes to the pull-up bars. The boy follows. I break my eyes away and see everyone has left the medical supplies laying around to watch what happens. I slide behind them and grab some wraps and cream, then I head for a corner that no one will notice.

I read the directions on the back of the cream. You simply rub it on the wound then wrap it. I practice wrapping my arm. Doing it one handed will be hard. I grab the wrap with my teeth to tie it. How tight is it suppose to be? I continue messing around with the bandages until a bell sounds. Our mentors will be coming in to observe us soon. I don't want to be watched, someone judging my every move makes me cringe. Then I remember that's what this all is. I'll constantly be watched by someone. I may be able to hide from the other tributes, but I'll never be able to hide from viewers. Gamemakers will now where I am every second of every day. I shudder.


	5. Chapter 5 - Training Day 2

**Author Note: Thank you if you are still reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Review if you want, good or bad. Any sort of feed back is good! I promise to get to the actual games soon. Only a couple more chapters until the Bloodbath.**

* * *

**Training Day 2**

**Topanga POV**

Every inch of my body hurts as I make my way into the dining room to eat breakfast. After training yesterday I realize just how impossible it might be to survive in the arena for two weeks. I sit down across from Jared, he looks more tired than me. I slowly eat the scrambled eggs that sit in front of me. Cruise and Westyn join us. Cruise sits beside me and grabs some jelly toast and shoves half of it into his mouth.

"Private training starts today." He says with his mouth full.

"We aren't going with the big group at all?" Jared asks.

"Nope. Only those without mentors train the big group." Cruise says.

"Unless you just really want to train with the big group." Westyn adds.

"I won't be training with him, will I?" I ask, pointing my fork at Jared. My tone was more harsh than I intended, Jared looks crushed. He slides his chair back and leaves. "He wasn't wanting to work together, was he?" I ask, confused.

"Don't worry about it." Westyn says. "It's the sad truth but only one of you can win anyways, it's better to train alone." He stands to follow Jared out of the room. "He's a good trainer by the way." He nods toward Cruise then he's gone.

Cruise lets me finish my breakfast then we head to a private training room. Mats, pull up bars, nets, weapons, plants, and other items I have never seen before are scattered around the room. Cruise leads me to a large set of equipment in the center of the room.

"Obstacle course." He tells me.

All I can think about is how badly my body aches from yesterday, but I must do this. I must show Cruise I'm not weak. I must show myself I'm not weak. I wait at the first wall, which has a net for me to climb up, as Cruise sets the timer. The buzzer sounds and I start climbing as fast as I can. My arms scream in pain but I ignore the pain and keep climbing, once at the top I have to jump down onto the ground below. I start running through the bars, stepping left and right quickly, they start to get closer together and I have to turn my shoulders back and forth to fit through them. I hit my toe on one of the bars, I bit my lip so I don't curse. I force myself to keep going.

The net is really low to the ground, and I have to crawl on my stomach to fit underneath, my elbows and knees become sore as they hit the hard floor, once again I have to force my way through the pain. Once through the net I have to jump onto some platforms. It looks harder than I originally though and I pause, trying to figure the best way across. The platforms lay diagonal from each other, each one slanted slightly. I take a couple steps back to get some momentum, then I run and jump onto the first platform. Immediately I have to shift my weight to the opposite direction to jump onto the next platform, by the third platform I realize I can shift which foot lands onto the platform, making it easier to jump. I reach the end of the platforms, there is only one last wall for me to climb over. A single rope hangs down. My arms are sore as I grab onto the rope and pull myself up. I barley make it off the ground. I grab the rope with my feet and push myself up rather than pull with my arms, this works better. By time I reach the top my legs are as sore as my arms. I jump down and Cruise stops the timer. I suddenly realize just how out of breath I am. I lean over and grab my knees, my lungs burn and I gasp for air.

"Wow." Cruise says. "One minute forty seven seconds. Impressive."

**Stiles POV**

"Train me." I say as I walk up to Desmond.

"What?" He asks, chuckling softly.

"Train me. Today. Privately." He stands there for a second considering it, he looks me up and down, grins a little, then says:

"Nah, man. Get someone else. You don't want me training you. There are better mentors."

"Better than you!?" I ask, amazed he'd say something like that. Sure he was a little boring after the games, but he was the best inside the arena. "You were just there last year! How could any of those mentors be better than you? Their memories about what happened in there can't be as good as yours ar-"

"You think their memories aren't as good as mine!?" He snaps, cutting me off. "I guarantee you they remember every second of being in that arena! And if you think I'm some amazing person because I threw a few swords through some other kids' throats, then you need a serious reality check!" He stands close to me, his face in mine. I glared at him. Why is he so angry? He knows what he signed up for, he knows when he won he'd have to mentor us, he knows we look up to him.

"Maybe you aren't as great as I thought you were." I say, taking a step back. "I'll find someone else, someone who enjoys their fame." I turn and walk out of the room.

**Lex POV**

I make my way to the main training center. There are many of us there, and all the mentors are from the Career districts. No Careers or with us, and the tributes from 3, 6, and 8 are missing as well. These districts have mentors of their own. I look around the room, everyone is partnered up, I'm the only tribute left standing without a partner and without a mentor. I spot Shay, she's working with a bow and arrow, one of the Career Victors showing her the proper way to stand. I consider going over there, but only for a second, I'd never be able to use a bow and arrow. That's why Shay didn't invite me to join her in training.

I walk over to the plants, everyone else is busy training in the work out station, weapons station, or wound healing station. I start scrolling though the list of plants, stopping on the very few plants I do not recognize to read about them.

"Need help?" The voice scares me and I jump. I turn to see who it is. It's one of the mentors, I recognize her, she won when I was little. Her name is Coral Heights. "Why don't you practice with weapons some, you definitely know plants."

"I read a lot." I say. She smiles and nods.

"I can tell." She says, "Now let's go practice with a knife." She leads me over to the weapons section. I can feel some of the other tributes watching me. They all want to know how I plan on fighting with only one hand. I want to know as well.

Coral hands me a small knife. "It's for throwing. Trust me, you only need one hand to throw a knife, you'll do fine." She takes a step back. I look at the target in front of me. I glance around, all the tributes in the weapons station are watching me. I stand like I saw Shay standing with the bow and arrow. I have no clue how the knife is suppose to be thrown, so I just throw it. It lands on the floor near the bottom of the target, a sharp clinging noise echoing around. A few of the tributes fail to muffle their laughs.

I turn on my heal and start to walk away, Coral grabs my arm. "Wait." She says.

"Why?" I ask her.

"That was only your first throw. Hardly anyone ever hits the target the first time they throw a knife. Try again, come on, you can do it."

Coral has confidence in me, but I don't. Every time I miss I become more discouraged. I can hear knives and arrows and swords making contact with the targets all around me. I seem to be the only tribute who can't do it, and it's not because of my injury. I'm just pathetic.

**Zila POV**

I barley have time to pour myself a glass of milk before Phillip comes over to me grinning.

"We get to train together today!" He says. He's right, with having only one mentor we have to share our private training time. I don't want to.

"Why don't you work with Dana," I say to him, "I'll go work in the main training center."

"But, don't you want to work together?" He asks me.

"No." I say. It seems like a simple answer, but Phillip doesn't understand.

"But, you'll need a partner!" He sounds desperate now. Sure, he's only thirteen and he's scared. He wants to make sure he'll have someone to work with in the arena. But I'm only fourteen and I plan on working alone. If I'm by myself I can stay out of sight, if I'm with someone else I have to worry about them being seen.

"I don't need a partner." I say. "I can do this alone. You work with Dana, today and tomorrow. Ok?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever." He says. It's the first time I've seen him in a bad mood. I pat him on the shoulder then leave the room quickly, skipping out on breakfast.

Once in the training center I hover in the corner for awhile while everyone else finds something to work with. I glance around the room, I look up above us and see metal beams run across the top of the center. I look around the walls and find a place to climb up near the front of the center. Once at the top I pull myself onto one of the beams, letting each leg hand down a different side. I scoot across on my butt until I'm in the center. Now I can see all the way across the training center. I can see everyone, but no one sees me.

I watch as a girl practices throwing knives. She's pretty good, hitting the target ninety percent of the time. I copy her movements, making sure my wrist snaps like hers. I keep practicing until I feel my movements match hers perfectly. An older boy practices with a bow and arrow. I copy his movements as well. It's harder to do than the knives. I imagine a bow in my hand. I imagine pulling an arrow out of the quiver. I pull back on my imaginary bow. I use my thumb to center my target. Another tribute's head. I let go of my imaginary bow and drop my thumb. I picture an arrow going into the tribute's head. I see him fall over. Dead. It's that easy.


	6. Chapter 6 - Training Day 3

**Author Note: As you can tell not all five tributes are going to be in each chapter. I'll have at least two tributes' POV per chapter. Once again thank you for reading!**

* * *

**Training Day 3**

**Billi POV**

Private training is harder than I thought. Kent Bowers is determined that the sister of Brock Link will win. He wants to Capital to see that by killing one tribute they only created another tribute more determined to win than ever.

Yesterday we worked with spears. I'm an excellent fisher back home, so I managed to hit every target during training. I tell Kent how I didn't have much training back at home because my mother believed we'd never be in the games. Kent takes me over to the climbing wall. Since my brother was killed while climbing a mountain he wants to make sure I'm able to withstand whatever the Gamemakers throw at me. He says my brother was getting to close to the edge of the arena, that once he reached the top of the mountain he'd be at the barrier. That's why they created the avalanche.

He straps a harness onto me, telling me it will keep me safe but to pretend I don't have the harness on and if I fall I will die. I get about half way up the wall, a good hundred feet off the ground. I glance down and see Kent press a couple buttons beside the climbing wall. The wall starts to shake. I gasp and clutch on tighter. I really do forget that even if I fall I will be safe. A part of the wall I holding onto crumbles under my left hand. I panic and lose my footing. The wall is determined to shake me off. I'm only holding on with my right hand now, and I kick my feet around trying to find a foot hole. I find one with my right foot, now that I'm better balanced I'm able to find a place to hold on with my left hand.

"Keep climbing!" Kent yells up at me. He's insane. I can barley hold on, how am I suppose to climb. My hand is shaky but I slowly inch it upwards, never letting my fingers leave the surface of the wall. I find a place to grasp onto. As I lift my foot the wall lurches violently. Making me yell out. I press my face into the wall, the closer I am to it the safer I feel. Kent yells at me to keep going. I pick my foot back up, my whole body shakes and I feel like at any second I'm going to plummet downwards. My stomach hurts just thinking about it.

I climb a few more feet on the shaky wall. On the next violent lurch my knee crashes into the wall, my leg goes numbs and tingles. It hurts. I can't find a place to put my other foot, and I panic again. My hair is stuck to my sweaty forehead and strands of it fall into my eyes. Stinging them. My arms are sore as they hold all of my weight. Why won't Kent turn the shaking off? I'm able to breathe again once I find a small foot hole. My other leg is has stopped throbbing slightly. I decide to keep climbing.

**Stiles POV****  
**

Yesterday I trained with an older mentor, Mickey. He was very impressed with my skills, as I knew he would be. He didn't train me much, just stood back and watched as I swung my sword and chopped off arms, legs, and heads of dummies. I feel today is going to be the same way. I pick up a knife this time, and decide to show how great I am with knives. I stand facing the dummies, then I spin and cut across the stomach, then quickly across the neck. I spin around to another dummy and slice across its neck. Simple. I dive toward another dummy and stab the knife into its back. I push it away from me and I pull the knife out. The dummy falls to the floor.

"What do you plan on doing when those are real people. They'll fight back you know." It's Desmond. I grin. He's curiosity got the better of him, he had to see just how great I am.

"I know." I say. "I trained with real people back in the district. We used collapsible knives of course."

"Of course." Desmond said. "So there was never any real threat." He walks over to the table of knives and picks one up. "Let's see how you do when there is a threat."

I grin at him, "You can't kill me." I say to him. He shrugs.

"Maybe I can't. But there have been horrible accidents during training before. Sometimes tributes get injured during training and that weakens them while in the arena."

I grin. I love the threat. I love that he thinks he can hurt me. I spin the knife in my hand a couple times then point it at him. "Let's go." I say. In three quick steps he's in front of me. I swing out with the knife and he jumps back, I miss. He attempts to do a lower cut, aiming for my stomach. I dodge it and swing my knife up near his face. I miss on purpose, I could have easy cut his nose off. He kicks out and hits my shin, I stumble backwards and he shoves me, making me land on my butt. He steps forward and I swing my leg out, he wasn't expecting it and he falls to the ground. I'm on top of him in seconds. My knife against his throat.

"This is what I plan on doing when I fight with real people." I say. "I plan on killing them. Lucky for you I'm not allowed to kill you." I get off of him, pulling my knee back and releasing the pressure I was putting on his gut. I just took down Desmond Harrigon, one of the best tributes ever seen. The capitol is going to love me!

**Zila POV**

Dana insist I work with her today, so I follow her into a private training room.

"What have you been working on, kid?" She asks. I shrug, technically I haven't worked on much, I've just observed people. She doesn't take my shrug as a real answer.

"Hiding." I tell her.

"Is that it?" She laughs a little. I nod. "So show me." She turns to look at the paints. With her back to me I duck up under the weapons table. I quickly grab one of the small throwing knives as I emerge from the other side, then step quickly onto the mats. I step behind some mats that stack up to my waste and crotch behind them. I wait.

"Impressive." She says. "So you're invisible. That took you about five seconds." I grin, she didn't see or hear me leave. "Where'd you go?" I look around the room. A wall with a net is about fifteen feet away, I could easily hide behind the wall. I glance around the mats. Dana is looking out the door into the hallway. I dash toward the wall, never making a sound. That's the advantage of being small, my steps are quiet.

"Seriously, kid." Dana says. She sounds frustrated now. "I know you are still in here." I look at the wall I'm standing behind. There is no net on this side, but the wooden planks have small gaps between them. I place my fingers in the gaps and pull myself up. The ends of my shoes barely fit into the gaps but I'm able to get some leverage.

"Kid!" Dana shouts. I hear her moving over near the mats. I smile as I climb to the top of the wall. I don't pull myself up to the top yet. I wait and listen as Dana walks over near the wall. I peak through the small gaps and see her move just to my right. I quickly pull myself up onto the top of the wall, as quickly as I pull myself up, I jump back down onto the net. Dana is now on the other side of the wall. She didn't see me. I climb down half way on the net. I lean around the edge. Dana is checking behind other equipment now. I finish climbing down and wait for Dana to turn around.

I throw the knife, just like I saw the girl yesterday throw it. I make sure my wrist movements are snappy, I make sure the knife is aimed where I want it to be. Dana yelps as the knife hits the wall beside her. It doesn't stick into the wall, but clambers down onto the ground.

"What the hell?" She yells.

"I turned invisible." I tell her.

"Not that. The knife!" She walks quickly over to me.

"I wasn't going to hit you." I say.

"How do you know that?" She asks.

"Because I aimed it at you." I say simply. "As you can tell, I've practiced hiding. Not knife throwing."

Dana glares at me. I know why she is mad. I could have killed her. But I didn't. Instead I hide from her in a room with very little hiding places. If I can do that I can truly turn invisible in the arena.


	7. Chapter 7 - Training Scores

**AN: The description mentions that these five tributes have high scores. Here is how they earned them! Obviously there is a little time jumping in this chapter. I'll show how they earned the score and their reaction to the score for each person in one. I hope you like it!**

* * *

**Training Scores**

**Stiles POV**

I wait for the doors to open and I walk into the room with the Gamemakers. They sit up above me, a few of them are chatting, but they quiet down as I pick up a large knife. I look at the dummies in front of me. They are on conveyor belts and will move either toward or away from me. I press the button and they start to move. I rush into the middle of them and start swinging my knife, each move perfectly calculated, perfectly preformed, and perfectly effective. I slice the throat of the first dummy. A second moves toward me quickly and I slide the knife into its stomach. I yank the knife back out just in time to slice the arm of another dummy. As it backs up another moves forward. I duck under it and spin around, stabbing my knife into its back. The one with the now cut arm moves toward me again. I cut its arm completely off just because I can. Then I spin my knife around and swing hard, chopping the head of a dummy advancing behind me off. The last one is the one now missing an arm. It moves faster this time. I slide onto the ground and cut through its ankle, taking it's foot off. Then I slide the knife easily into its back. I look around me. All the dummies around me are laying down. Each one "dead". I grin.

* * *

We wait for the training scores to be revealed. Not all of the previous victors join us in the large sitting room, but Desmond is here. I grin. I know my score will be better than he's was.

"It's on!" Penny says, rushing to sit down in the empty chair. Jasper scores a nine, Madeline scores an eight. I sit up taller as my face appears on the screen.

"Stiles Spiller, from District 2. Scores a ten! For his impressive fighting skills." I grin. A ten! People pat me on the back. Everyone in the room is impressed. Everyone except Penny. I can't help but grin even more as she receives a score of nine. She told me I'd fail because I'm too cocky and arrogant. I just proved to her that I am not cocky and arrogant, I am strong, I am the best.

**Topanga POV**

I'm not ready for this. Yesterday during training Cruise told me I'm strong, I have great reflexes and instincts, and I'm determined. As long as I score within the same range as the Careers I'll have one of the best chances of anyone there. I'll be the perfect princess the capitol will want me to be, while at the same time I'll be the perfect fighter. I just have to show I'm a perfect fighter. The door opens and I step inside. I see a big obstacle course waiting for me. I grin. Cruise made sure they had this for me. It's not the same as the one I ran before. This one has mechanical parts on the sides. I can only imagine what is set up to stop me from reaching the end.

I stand at the start. I steady myself as I wait for the buzzer. I scan the first obstacle. A giant foam pit, I know it'll be harder than it looks to make it across. The buzzer sounds and I jump out as far as I can into the pit. My momentum pushes me down into the pit, I sink down to my shoulders. I kick around, the foam blocks move all around me and it's hard to find something to push off. I realize it'll be easier to make my way to the bottom. I do so, quickly finding the hard floor below me. It's dark, the blocks don't let much light down to the bottom of the pit. I quickly push my way forward. I can't waste any time. I reach the end of the pit and I'm relieved to find small rungs to climb up. I push my way to the surface and crawl out of the pit.

A wall is in front of me, with a single rope to climb. I know that the easiest way to climb this is pushing with my feet, not pulling with my arms. I'm to the top quickly. Once I reach the top a mechanical bar swings out. I duck just in time and it swings over my head. I stay low as I climb onto the platform. Now several mechanical bars wait to swing out toward me. I run. Out of the corner of my eye I see a bar swinging out by my feet. I jump and it barley misses me. I don't even land on the ground before another bar swing out near my chest. I duck but keep running. A wall is beside me, and I can see something will pop out of the wall ready to hit me. I bolt. A giant block swings forward. I grab onto it. Luckily its soft, and I'm able to dig my fingers into it so I don't fall. The block dangles off the platform. I grip tightly as I swing my leg back onto the platform. Once I let go of the block and steady myself on the platform, a life size human dummy pops out from behind the wall. It doesn't seem to be a threat by I swing out and punch it before I can think properly. The punch doesn't do much so a second later I kick at its ribs.

The dummy is pushed to the side, I don't know if it's from some strength I don't know I have or if it's programmed to move away. I don't stand around to find out and head quickly to the next obstacle. It's bars supposed in the air. I must make my way across them. I grab onto the first bar, I let my body swing backward and forward for a second then I let go of the bar with one hand and swing forward to grab the next bar. I make it across three bars before one collapse and drops away from the beam. I clinch my teeth as my heart plummets. Quickly I make the weight of my body swing forward so I can grab the next available bar. I grab at the next bar and it drops away under my weight as well. I was more prepared this time and my heart didn't drop. Once to the end of the bars a buzzer sounded. I looked over at the game makers. They nod letting me know I'm finished. I jump down off the platform and make my way out of the room, trying to hide that I was out of breath and desperate for something to drink.

* * *

Cruise hands me a fruity drink then sits down on the couch beside me.

"Nervous?" He asks.

"Duh." I say. "I don't know how well I did. They stopped me before I reached the end of the course."

"That could be a good thing." Cruise says. I shrug. Probably not. We wait for them to show the scores. It comes on and I hold my breath. The boy from 2, the one I threatened to personally kill, scores a ten. I groan. Jared's picture appears on the screens.

"Jared Hollarwell, from District 3, scores a seven. For impressive wound healing work." Westyn congratulates him, telling him he did good. My picture appears. Cruise squeezes my knee. Normally I'd snap at him and tell him to keep his hands off of me. But right now I don't care. "Topanga Lynn, from District 3, scores a ten!"

"No fucking way." I gasp.

"For her strong survival instincts and quick reflexes."

"This is a joke right?" I ask. Cruise shakes my knee, grinning.

"You did it!" He says. "I told you! Strong survival instincts! That's one of the best complements you can get!"

I nod. My mind still buzzes. How in the hell did I score a ten? Do I really have that good of a chance at winning?

**Billi POV**

I look at the pile of spears sitting beside me. Each target gets harder and harder to hit. I know the faster I hit them the better score I'll get. I snatch up the first spear and throw it as hard as I can. It lands right in the center of the first target, but I hardly wait for it to make contact before I throw the second spear. It hits the center of the second target. The third target is moving. That's not a problem though. I hit swimming fish with no problem. My third spear hits the target easily, and only a few seconds later the fourth spear plows into the forth target. So far I have hit four bulls eyes. The firth target is up above me, this proves to be a harder challenge than I'm use to. But I manage to hit the target in the center anyways. The sixth target is also above me but it's moving. I put all my strength behind the throw and watch the spear fly upwards toward the target. My aim was a little off and it hits in the ring beside bulls eyes. But I can't stop and worry about it. I snatch up the seventh spear and throw it hard at the seventh target, it's farther away, and it takes a lot of strength to make sure the spear makes it to the target. There is one target left, and it's moving too, disappearing behind random walls. It's hard to tell which way it's going to move. I watch as it moves left behind a wall, then moves back in the same direction it came from. I throw the spear, I know the target will be there. It has to be. I close my eyes and hear the spear smack into the wood. I grin. I did it.

* * *

Stiles scored a ten. That's not good. He's ego is already big enough. But I know that he's ego was probably crushed when they announced that the girl from 3, Topanga, scored a ten as well. I grin to myself, good for her. Stiles needs to be pushed off his own personal pedestal. Seth's picture appears on the TV.

"Seth Downey, from District 4, scores a nine. For his incredible strength." They got that right. Seth is like a brick. My picture appears on the screen. I cringe. Compared to the last few faces on the screen I stick out like a sore thumb. My nose so big, my hair too frizzy. I hardly catch that they are now speaking about me.

"-from District 4, scores a ten! Incredible! She receives this score for her strong spear throwing." My jaw drops. I scored a ten? The mentors congratulate us for our scores. Seth smiles at me, well it's not a real smile, Seth doesn't smile like a normal person.

**Lex POV**

I stand in front of the giant computer screen. Pictures of plants fill it. I start arranging the plants in order from least dangerous to most dangerous. Most leaves look alike, but there is always something different about each one, you just have to know where to find it. I finish with the plants, scoring perfectly. Pictures of animals appear in front of me. There are animals created by the Gamemakers. Pink birds, carnivorous squirrels, other mutts I haven't been able to study well. Based on most size and shapes of the mutts it's easy to tell if they'll be dangerous or not. I start arranging the mutts in the same order as the plants. I click on basic information of the animal. I'm on a time limit, so I don't have much time to study each animal in depth. But I scan for important words. I place each animal and mutt in order. An almost perfect score, I mixed up three of them, but it wasn't a bad slip up. Next is injuries, I grin to myself. The first thing I see is a hand wound, and I know those are bad. I finish the injuries, this time a perfect score. I know what rotting flesh looks like, I know what burnt skin looks like, I know what an infection looks like. These are all things I had to deal with when I injured my hand.

* * *

Shay sits across the room from me. We talked about teaming up but she didn't feel like it was a good idea. It hurt my feelings a little bit, and we got in a small argument, but at the end I understood that she's teamed up with some other tributes, ones that aren't seriously injured.

We watch as the tributes from the first four Districts score well. My face comes onto the screen. I look so small compared to the others before me.

"Lex Grovestin, from District 5, is our fourth tribute to score a ten!" Shay gasps and snaps her head toward me. I sit in shock. "He received this score for his amazing memory." I can't pull my eyes from the screen. A 10 spins beside my picture. A TEN!

My picture fades and Shay's appears. She scores a six. I look over at her. I can tell she regrets not teaming up with me now.

**Zila POV**

I enter the room and see fake trees all around. I grin. Perfect. Dana made sure it'd be easy for me. Paint sits in the center of the room. I frown. I don't want to use paint. I walk over to the station. The Gamemakers are expecting me to paint myself in camouflage. I don't know how. Instead I pick up one of the glass containers of paint. I study it for a few second, then I chuck it across the room as hard as I can. I don't watch to see where it lands, I watch as the Gamemakers' heads follow the glass. Not one of them is watching me, and in the few seconds that the glass container sores through the air I slide silently into the trees. I hear it break against something. Any second now the Gamemakers will see that I disappeared. I bolt through the trees, they'll never see me. I step out beside the broken glass and spattered green paint. I stand there for three seconds, the Gamemakers are scanning the trees looking for me.

I clear my throat. I stand there with my arms crossed, like I'm tired of waiting for them to see me. I see a small smile appear on the head Gamemakers face. I step behind the tree again. Now they know where I am, and they'll be watching for me. But they'll be watching for me to move back from the way I came, back into the thick of the trees. They will not expect me to move toward them. I step behind another tree quickly. Please don't let them see me. I step behind another one. Now I'm at the front row of trees. I take a deep breath. By now the Gamemakers should be scanning the center of the trees, not looking up near the front. I take quick steps up to the wall and press my back against it. The Gamemakers are now right above me, I'm completely out of sight. I move quickly to the other side of the room, sliding against the wall without making a sound. I must hurry, by now the Gamemakers will be getting bored. I step out and stand in front of the first tree I see.

"There!" It's one of the female Gamemakers, I can tell she's embarrassed for calling out. I grin, it's like a ridiculous game of hide and seek, and each one of them is an excited child wanting to have the glory of seeking me first.

* * *

Tributes pictures appear and disappear on the screen. Everyone is getting their scores based on how smart they are or how strong they are. All I did was sneak around a room.

"Phillip Quard, from District 6, scores a five! For he's speed." I offer a small smile to Phillip. A six is not a bad score. "Zila Monument, from District 6, scores a ten! For her ability to stay hidden." Seriously? They were that impressed with me? I scored the same as Careers! Everyone congratulates me. We watch the last of the scores in silence. No one else scores above an eight, and the lowest score was a four.

I look over at Phillip when the scores are finished. He looks like he's going to cry. He catches me looking.

"Please," He says, "Please be my partner!" He sits with his knees pulled up to his chest. Part of me wants to tell him yes, tell him I'll work with him. But I can't. I have to make sure I win, I can't protect him forever. I can't protect him at all. I can only protect myself.

"Phillip," I don't know how to tell him no. "Phillip, if you can find me in the arena, then I'll be your partner." I tell him. He nods, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. I offer a weak smile. He'll never find me in the arena. I'll never be his partner.


	8. Chapter 8 - Maybe You Aren't the Best

**AN: Just a really short and simple chapter for Stiles & Topanga. I really enjoy writing little arguments between them. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Maybe You Aren't the Best**

**Stiles POV**

We are in a hallway, lined up in the order we will go in for the interviews. Topanga stands right behind me.

"It must suck," She says quietly, "To see your dreams shatter around you." I don't turn around to look at her. I clinch my fist. "I mean, I'm sure you always dreamed of having the highest score of the twenty-four tributes. How does it feel to know that The Princess; the girl you tried so hard to humiliate, scored the same as you?" I can't help it, I have to turn and look at her. She smirks, standing with her arms crossed.

"Shut up." I tell her. I turn back around.

"And you want to be the leader of the Careers, right? I bet that dream is shattered as well." What would they do if I turned around and punched her right now? I really want to mess up that pretty face of hers. Just wait until the bloodbath."Another Career scored just as well as you. Is _she _wanting to take away your dream of being the best just as much as I do?" She just won't shut up! I turn to look at her again. For having such a pretty face she can sure make it look mean and cruel.

"I am the leader of the Careers." I snap at her. "And I am the best, no one can take that away from me." It's true. I am the best, it's obvious.

**Topanga POV**

I grin at him. He is one of the cockiest people I've ever meet. That's why I have to get under his skin before the interview. I want him to think he may lose the chance of being the best, I want him to think that just maybe Panem will love someone else more than him. His so called confidence will be shattered.

"What about that kid?" I smirk. "I kid with one hand scored just as good as you. You aren't worth shit anymore." His face turns red. Maybe he'll hit me, maybe there'll be some sort of extreme punishment for fighting before the games. I smirk at him. "And you can't do any better than a fourteen-year-old _girl._" I sneer. "How are you suppose to convince everyone out there that you are the best when you can't even score better than the one-handed kid, a fourteen-year-old girl, and a princess?"

"Shut up!" He snaps at me. Everyone is watching now. Our voices grew louder with each word. I don't care, I've gotten under his skin. Perfect.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Interviews

**AN: Thank you if you are reading this! I hope you enjoy the interviews. I'm definitely trying to show the personality of the tributes here. Comment if you want, good or bad! Any feedback is good!**

* * *

**Interviews**

**Stiles Spiller POV**

I look good, really good. Out of the males this year I'm the tallest and I'm the most handsome. My hair is chocolate brown and my eyes a deep blue. My stylist slicks my hair back and insist I wear some eye makeup to make my eyes "pop" with color. I'm dressed in a suit that matches my eyes, making them stand out even more. I'm the forth interview. The crowd cheers and claps. I smile and wave. I can feel the excitement in my bones. I sit next to Panera. She looks to be about thirty years old, even though she's been the host of the interviews for thirty years now. Her hair is a bright purple that shines in the light, her eye lashes and nails match. She reaches out and touches my cheek lightly with the three inch nails.

"Such a handsome face!" She gleams "Don't we agree, ladies?" Whistles and cheers came from the crowd. I wave and flash my perfectly white smile. That earned a few more whistles from the crowd. "So, Stiles, how does it feel to finally get your chance to show everyone in Panem that you have what it takes to be the Victor of the 30th Annual Hunger Games?"

"It feels great!" I say, and it does! I feel like my whole body is glowing in confidence. My whole body tingles with glee. "I've wanted to prove to everyone that I can be a Victor for several years now, this year I finally got to volunteer."

"And we are glad you did! With a training score of _ten, _I know I'm excited to see what you have to show us!" More cheers, more claps. I'm loved by all! But do they love Billi, The Princess, the one-handed kid, and the fourteen-year old just as much?

"I'm excited to show you." I say with a wink, keeping my confidence showing. "I won't disappoint." Panera giggles slightly, she knows I'm right.

"What do you think of the capital?" She asks.

"It's so big! And everyone here is so upbeat! I'd honestly love to live here!" No, not really. The people are weird, they dye their skin, their hair, they smell like fruits and flowers. But they must think I love them.

"What did you tell everyone before you left District 2?" Panera asks me.

"My family was proud of me, they know I'm the best. I didn't have to have any sappy goodbyes with them. They congratulated me and I told them I'd make them proud."

"I'm sure you will!" Panera says. She touches my cheek with her long nails again, then she stands up "Let's have one last round of applause for our District Two Male Tribute, Stiles Spiller!" I stand and the crowd cheers and claps, the same sensation that my whole body was tingling comes back. I smile and shake Panera's hand. I don't want to walk off the stage, I'm loving the fame. But I must go.

**Topanga Lynn POV**

What an arrogant asshole. Stiles Spiller soaks up the crowds cheers and claps as he walks off the stage, grinning from ear to ear. I'm next. Stiles is being sold as the sexy male of the games, I'm obviously being sold as the sexy female. My dress is strapless. Up my right leg the dress is cut short, revealing all the way up to the bottom of my underwear. Deep ruffles fall down my left side. My hair flows long and is in deep waves to match the ruffles. My thin lips are painted red and my eyes are surrounded in glitter. I hate it. I hate being seen as sexy and flirty. I must act as if I'm clueless but also ruthless at the same time. How did I do that?

My stylist tells me I must glide as I walk onto the stage. I do. I glide over to my seat and sit with my chest held high. I stretch my right leg out farther than necessary as I cross it over my left leg. Apparently it looks sexy if I do so. "Look at you!" Panera says as the crowd dies down. "You know, I just love that hair color! Where did you get it?"

"Oh, this is my natural hair color." I say. Panera looks stunned.

"Amazing." She says. "Everything about you looks amazing. I must say, my first impression of you is not a fighter."

"I've heard that before," I say with a smile, "I'm told I look like a princess." The crowd claps again, I smile at them, pushing my shoulders back slightly so my chest sticks out more. Gotta be sexy.

"I'm sure we all will be surprised. You managed to get a ten in training. One of the best scores we've seen this year. Can you tell me how you managed to acquire such a high score?"

"Well..." I twirl my hair around my finger "I better not, I can't reveal all my secrets." I say with a wink.

"Of course, of course!" Panera gleams. "As a young lady with strong survival instincts I was just sure you'd be weary of revealing your secrets."

I smile politely and bat my long, fake, eyelashes. Acting confused as to why the next question has not been asked yet.

"What do you think of the Capital?" She asks.

"I'm super jealous of the outfits." I say the lie through a smile. What I really want to say is the outfits looks like crap and these people need a serious reality check.

"I bet we could find an amazing outfit to match that wonderful hair of yours!" Panera says.

"That's be amazing." I say.

"I like this girl! Don't you!? Topanga Lynn!" Panera says as she stands up and raises her hands. The crowd cheers and claps. I stand as well. Flipping my hair and making sure my chest stands out. Panera thanks me for doing the interview and I give her a quick hug. I'm ready to run off the stage. But I glide off the stage like told.

**Billi Link POV**

Going on stage after all the pretty and handsome tributes is nerve racking. All they had to do was flash a few smiles and show off their figures. I can't do that. My hair does look nicer, my stylist managed to get the frizz out. I walk onto the stage. The crowd claps and cheers for me just like they did for the last six tributes. I smile at them and take my seat.

"Billi Link, tell me, are you happy to be here today?" Panera asks me.

"I am." I say with a smile.

"Watching the reaping videos I was sure you'd let someone volunteer in your place, it shows great bravery that you didn't." Panera says. "I remember sitting on this very stage with your brother only seven years ago."

"Yes, I remember watching him. I was so young then, not even old enough for the reaping yet. I looked up to him so much. I feel I must honor him by winning this years game." I say. This wasn't necessarily the whole truth. I decided I'd tell everyone the reason I refused volunteers was to honor my brother. I'd be viewed in a bad light if they knew I joined only to get the make-over. Other tributes would see me as weak and vulnerable. I had to prove them wrong, that's why I did everything in my power to get one of the highest scores. Panera was thinking about the scores as well.

"You are one of the five tributes to score a ten. That is very impressive. I'm guessing, because you are from District Four, you've had a lot of practice using fishing gear."

"Yes," I say "I believe I'll prove to be just as strong as my brother was."

"Wonderful! I can't wait to see how you use that to your advantage." The crowd claps, agreeing with Panera. I smile and adjust my position in the seat. I can't pull off the sexy look like the girl from District Three, but I can show that I have strong arms. Luckily I'm in a thin strap dress.

"And what do you think of the Capital?" She asks.

"It's beautiful. Just like the sea back at home." I say.

"Wonderful!"

Panera stands and asks for one last round of applause before I exit the stage. I stand and shake her hand, I thank her for having me. She's impressed. I exit the stage feeling more confident than I did when I walked onto it.

**Lex Grovenstin POV**

When it's my turn to go onto the stage I feel sick. But I know the audience is expecting something grand from me. I'm weak, small, disabled, quiet. Yet I scored a ten. They'll all be wondering what I did to impress the Gamemakers so much. I shake Panera's hand then take the seat next to her.

"Lex Grovenstin. I'm going to cut right to the chase; I just know everyone is dying to know, what is it that you possess that has seemed to impress the Gamemakers enough to score as one of the top five tributes?"

"I think with my disability many people underestimate me. Obviously I cannot hold a weapon with my right hand, and all of these tributes now that weapons play a big part in the winner of the games." I say. I still feel like I'm holding back vomit. "But many of the tributes also now that planning and scavenging are big parts of the game as well. We've seen several winners who uses their brains more than their muscles to win." That earned a few claps and cheers from the crowd.

"So you are saying that you are more mentally capable of winning this game than other tributes?"

"Yes." I answer quickly. Panera smiles.

"Wonderful! I just love those tributes who are smart," She turns to face the crowd "Don't you!?" Cheers and claps from all around. I swallow the lump in my throat. Do. Not. Throw. Up. I force a smile then let Panera continue asking questions. "Now, I assume your goodbyes must have been very tough, now that all of that is behind you, and you have proved you can do very well, is there anything you'd like to say differently to those you left behind at home?"

"No, I don't." I say "I told them I'd see them when this is all over. And I do plan on seeing them when this is over." Maybe it was a cocky thing to say, maybe I was being arrogant, but it was the truth, and the crowd seemed to love it. Panera thanked me for being there and I gladly made my way off the stage.

**Zila Monument POV**

Every eye in Panem was going to be focused on me. For the first time ever I was going to be the center of attention. There was no way to hide, no way to shrink into the shadows and not be noticed. I do not like it. My body shakes as I walk onto the stage, the cheers of the crowd drowning out my own thoughts. I'm sitting in the chair and being asked the first question before I could focus.

"You are a very pretty young woman." Panera says to me, "You are fourteen, correct."

"Yes." I say. My voice shaky. Panera notices my nervousness and smiles at me kindly.

"Don't be nervous. It's only a little interview, dear." She turns to the crowd "So young, yet such an amazing score! She is the last of the five tributes to score a ten. Isn't that impressive!" The crowd cheers and claps. "I've been let in on a little secret, the Gamemakers are calling her The Human Chameleon. Zila, can you explain to the viewers what that means, please?"

I've never heard that term before. The Human Chameleon? When did they come up with that?

"I'm just really good at blinding in." I say "That's why I'm so nervous, I'm not use to people looking at me."

"Oh, deary, letting yourself be seen is not such a big deal!" Panera says, holding her arms up and letting the crowd view her purple attire.

"No offense, but in my possession it might be better if the other tributes can't find me." I say. The crowd laughs. I didn't mean it as a joke, but they seemed to. Panera joins in with laughter.

"I suppose you are correct," She says, tapping her head as if she forgot the simple fact that I'm going to be fighting for my life. I force a small smile. Why can't this be over already? "Zila, I imagine you said goodbye to family and friends before you left. What did you say to them before you left?"

"Oh." I was expecting this question, but I didn't expect for it to hurt so much when I answered. "No family. My mother and father are both gone. I did say goodbye to the girls from the group home. One of them gave me her necklace, which was kind, I told her I'd wear it all the time."

"I'm guessing that is the necklace there?" Panera says, gesturing to the silver necklace around my neck. I nod. "It's beautiful, she must love you very much to give that to you." I just smile. Not sure how to answer. "How about one last round of applause for Zila before she goes?!" We stand and I wave goodbye to the audience and quickly exit the stage.


	10. Chapter 10 - The Bloodbath

**AN: It's time for the bloodbath! If you are still reading thank you! I'm going to try my hardest to keep the chapters upbeat and action packed. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Bloodbath**

**Lex POV**

The countdown from sixty took so long. I stand on my pedestal and glance around on the ground closest to me. There was no way I'd go near the cornucopia, which is a giant metal structure on the other side of the river. A single bridge crossed over to the cornucopia. I won't even go near the bridge. Luckily a few backpacks are scattered across the ground on their side of the river. I quickly count twelve, half of the tributes could get a bag on this side. The countdown hit zero and I run. The girl from District 8 runs toward the same bag as me. I barely beat her there. I grab the bag with my left hand and turn to head toward the forest behind the pedestals. The girl from 8 must realize the bag I am holding is her only hope because she stays on my heal. She grabs for the bag, missing and grabbing my jacket sleeve. Luckily they are tight material so she can't get a good grip. Only a few feet later I'm pulled backward and the girl runs into me. We both fall to the ground. She grabs the bag with both hands and pulls at it. Since I can only hold on with my left hand I swing my right elbow around and make contact with her nose. Her grip loosens and I manage to pull the bag out of her hand. I jump back onto my feet and feel her clawing at my arm again. I run, faster than I ever thought I could, into the forest. The ground rises quickly and soon my legs are tired. I slow my pace, the girl from 8 didn't follow me into the forest. She must have decided to try for another bag. I look for a good place to rest and look in my bag. Thermal socks, those can come in handy, a bag a dried fruit, I'll figure out how to ration it in the morning, a small box of matches, not to be used at night, an empty water canteen, I should find water tomorrow morning as well, a carving knife, good for cutting food (and I guess people if necessary), and a some water purifier, very useful. I pack everything back up into the bag and continue to walk.

**Billi POV**

A river. Perfect. I'm joined with the Careers. It'll be easy making it to the cornucopia. The others will take care of any of the other tributes trying to make it across the bridge, I'll simply swim across. That's what these water suits must be for, right? The countdown is on ten seconds and I ready myself. The river isn't flowing very hard, if I swim at a slight angle I'll go straight across in a few seconds. I don't even hear the gong, I hear the rush of the wind in my ears as I bolt toward the river. I'm not the only tribute with the idea not to cross the bridge, I see a young girl from District 9 heading toward the river as well. Why would she head toward the cornucopia? I dive into the river with my hands in front of me. Once my whole body is submerged in water I push my arms back, the undercurrent is stronger than I expected, and I must swim at more of an angle than I want to. I push my arms back again and angle myself upward. I reach the surface and see I'm only three feet from the edge. I quickly cover the distance between myself and the bank and start to pull myself up.

"Help!" I turn to see the young girl from 9 struggling to stay above water. She's only about halfway across the river. She's pulled under again and seconds later she immerges above water a few feet farther down the river. She's caught in the undercurrent. I pull myself completely out of the river, I can't take my eyes off the drowning girl. She goes under again and I lose sight of her. I stand frozen for five full seconds. She hasn't come back up yet. Another blood turning scream comes from the other side of the river pulling me out of my trance. It almost physically hurts but I make myself turn away from the river and jog toward the cornucopia. But I know I will never get the imagine of that little girl drowning out of my mind.

**Stiles POV**

Excitement burst through me. In thirty seconds all of Panem will see how amazing I am. I'll no longer be the boy who talks confidently, but fights confidently as well. 5...4...3...2...1...0! I jump of my pedestal and head toward the bridge in front of the cornucopia. Other tributes head toward the bridge as well, but I'm quick, I bolt past the boy and girl from 7, easily shove the boy from 10 out of my way, and make my way onto the bridge. Jasper is right behind me, I hear his laugh as he shoves another tribute into the water. The boy from 12, I believe. I make it to the mouth of the cornucopia and rush inside. I hear a scream from outside. It sounds like an angry scream. For some unknown reason it makes me smile.

I look around at all the weapons. Swords, spears, knives, brass knuckles, blades I've never seen before. I instantly run for a large knife. It's as long as my forearm and the blade is sharp. I grin. Jasper is picking weapons of his own, as I rush out of the cornucopia Madeline is running in, her lip was split open and she's bleeding. Someone must have dared to take her on. I rush back outside, other tributes rushing over the bridge in attempt to get a weapon and supplies. I rush toward the boy from District 8. He'll be an easy kill, he only scored a four. He sees me rushing toward him and turns quickly, but I'm faster than him, I catch him quickly. I grab his arm and yank him backwards. He screams as I raise the knife and slide it easily across his neck. His face turns pale as blood flows from the cut. I grin and drop him. The first kill of the 30th Annual Hunger Games belongs to me. And soon, the last kill will as well. I turn, looking for another tribute to get out of the way. I see Jasper stab his knife into the boy from 12's chest as he tries to crawl out of the river. The girl from 12 is running from them, tears already streaking her face. I rush her, she won't even know what hit her. As she reaches the bridge I come up from the side and thrust my blade in front of her. She screams, but they are cut short as she gasp for breath. The blade sliced into her ribcage, she'll be dead in a few seconds. I yank the blade back out and casually wipe the blood off on my pants. The sponsors will see I'm calm, not worried at all.

I watch as Penny easily takes out the girl from District 11. I realize the two people I have eliminated had lower scores. I must find someone with a higher score to prove myself more. I turn looking for someone, where is Topanga? By now most tributes have made their way to safety, only a few rush to get away. I spot the tall girl from District 10 running down the bank of the river about fifteen feet away. I rush to her. She hears me coming and dives into the water. I jump in after her. This would normally be Billi's forte, she was the best swimmer out of us Careers. But I know I can do it. I swim toward her, she starts to panic as she sees I'm going to catch her. She splashes wildly in the river, it only slows her down. I reach her and she screams. It's hard to stab at her while keeping myself from being pulled under by the current. I managed to grab onto her arm and she yells at me, her screams turn into coughs as she swallows some water. We are pulled down the river farther as she kicks at me under the water. She pulls me under and I'm temporally blinded as my eyes burn from the water. She grabs my hair and pulls. I hold back the yell as I'm pushed near the bottom of the river due to her weight. I did not get a good breath before I was pushed under the water, and now my lungs scream for air. I push up with the knife the best I can. I feel it make contact with her side. She lets out a scream and air bubbles burst around my face as she lets go of my hair. I push my way to the surface and gasp as the air reaches my lungs. The girl comes out of the water feet away from me, she's still screaming, she splashes her arms around wildly. Finally she runs out of energy and stops flapping her arms. Slowly the water around her turns red, and I know it's from the cut I put on her side. She lets out one last desperate sob before her head is submerged in water once again.

**Zila POV**

5...4...3...2...1...0. The buzzer sounds and I bolt straight for the forest behind us, most everyone else heads toward the bags on the ground or the bridge over the river to the cornucopia. This is the bloodbath, I'm not going to be anywhere near it. I'll steal from others once they get their supplies. I'm The Human Chameleon, aren't I? They won't even see me as I steal their stuff right from under their noses.

**Topanga POV**

It's countdown time and I still don't know what my best move is. The Careers will be after me for scoring so high, but I also need weapons. All the weapons are on the other side of that damn river, only a few backpacks lay on this side. Will they have anything useful? The gong sounds and I force my feet to move forward. I don't move as quickly as I should, I let the Careers reach the bridge first, I realize it's a wise choice as the Male Tribute from 1 pushes the male from 12 off the bridge. I see a bag a few feet in front of me, that will be good enough. I run toward it. The girl from District 1 trips me, I'm laying on my stomach before I even realize what happened. Then something solid collides into my left side, it happens again and I can't breathe. Again the solid object slams hard into my ribs, and I fill them break. But she keeps kicking. I yell and swing my elbow backwards, it connects with something but does nothing. Then she is gone. I force myself to sit up, she was running toward the bridge. That was simply a warning. I scream. Anger suddenly taking over. I scream louder than I should, my throat turning sore. She turns to look at me, a grin on her face. I'm up on my feet and running at the bitch, my body working faster than my brain. I don't notice the pain in my side. She waits for me, laughing slightly. She swings out and punches my face, but I don't stop running. I head butt her big fat lips and we both fall onto the bridge. She swings and punches my broken ribs. My vision clouds and I fill like I'm going to throw up. She shoves me off her. Fear takes over. She's going to push me into the river. I'll never be able to swim in this pain. But she doesn't. She spits some blood on me then turns toward the cornucopia. Three seconds, I can only lie here for three seconds. I push myself up, black spots in my eyes as pain shoots through my ribs. I stumble back toward the forest, no supplies in hand. I watch as the Career boy from District four snaps Jared's neck. I sob, no longer able to hold the tears back. Run you idiot. I do. I force myself to run even though the pain in my side is screaming, burning, threatening to make me black out.


	11. Chapter 11 - After the Bloodbath

**AN: Two short POVs from Stiles Spiller and Billi Link. The main reason I wanted to write this chapter was for Zila Monument, so her part is much longer than the previous two. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**After The Bloodbath**

**Stiles POV**

"You are positive she ran this way?" I ask Madeline as we tread through the forest.

"Positive. She can't get far. Her ribs are broken." There was triumph in her voice.

"I still don't see why you didn't just push her into the river." Seth says. I roll my eyes as Madeline explains how Topanga should die by being beheaded. Part of me wishes she had just pushed her in the river, I wouldn't be going through the forest looking for her now. I'm also happy she's alive, because I want to kill her. Madeline points out the broken branches heading east, we follow them for a short ways and the trail stops. Even while hurt, Topanga is smart. I glance around in the trees above us but see nothing. Was she capable of climbing if her ribs were broken? No, she wouldn't be.

"Let's go back." I say "If she didn't get any supplies she'll want to see what she can get from the cornucopia. She'll be crawling back before night fall."

**Billi POV**

After the bloodbath nine cannons went off. All nine of them were because of us. It would have been ten if Stiles, Madeline, and Seth found the pretty girl from District 3. It would have been eight if I saved that little girl in the river. I can't worry about that. I can't. But yet I do. If I want to win, which I really do, I'm going to have to kill people. Stiles applauded for me letting the girl drown, that bugs me for than anything.

**Zila POV**

I follow the boy from District 10. He managed to get one of the larger backpacks during the bloodbath. He heads toward the mountain on the east side of the arena. I slide between the trees silently. I don't have to keep my eyes on him at all times, he takes heavy steps and breaks sticks and crunches leafs below him. As long as I stay in ear shoot I'll be able to follow him. We walk for hours, the sun is now low in the sky and it will be dark soon.

We reach the mountain, part way up there is already snow laying on the ground. I follow behind silently, moving on my tip toes. Soon he is out of the forest and almost to the snow. I'm starting to tire out, but he seems to be just fine. I lick my lips to keep moister on them. I let him reach the snow. His black waterproof suit standing out against the white. I roll my eyes and quickly unzip my jacket. The inside is padded with a thin soft white fur. I turn my coat inside out, then do the same with my pants. That's how you stay invisible. My hair is almost white it's so blonde, and my skin is pale, I don't even bother attempting to cover my head.

I quickly climb up toward the black dot. My legs hurt, my mouth is dry, but he will have to stop soon. I crouch down to stay hidden and watch as he slides his way across a ledge about forty feet above me. The ledge heads to a cleverly hidden cave. He makes it and steps inside. I move a little closer, from here I can see more of the arena. The forest extends all the way to the far west side by the barrier. I squint as I make out the cornucopia, beyond it looks like an open field. I follow the river upstream, it must start somewhere on this mountain. I follow it back downstream and see that it ends in an ocean. I can't see the end of it, I assume it goes all the way into the barrier.

I shiver. The cold plastic of the water proof jacket presses against my skin. I ignore the cold and look back up toward the cave. He lit a fire while I was observing the arena. I imagine what the flames must feel like after hiking up through the cold snow. He steps to the mouth of the cave. I stay where I am, he can't see me here. He has a small bowl, and he scoops some snow inside of it. I'm sure he's going to bowl it to purify it. I'd love to eat some of this snow, to keep my mouth from being so dry after the hike through the woods and part way up a mountain. But it's so tempting that I know the Gamemakers would probably put something in the snow that is harmful.

I wait until nightfall. The flame in the cave goes out. Soon after the anthem starts playing and the capital seal appears in the sky. I watch as it displays nine faces. The boy from 3, both tributes from 8, the girl from 9, the girl from 10, both tributes from 11, and both tributes from 12. I look back up to the cave and the boy makes his way back inside. He'll be asleep soon.

I wait until my fingers are blue. The moon has already risen above the arena. It's probably about 11:00. Surly he's asleep now. I stand up, my bones aching from sitting in one frozen spot for so long. I make my way up to the ledge. From up here I can see it's at least a three-hundred-foot drop straight down onto rocks. I stay pressed against the mountain, balancing myself on my tiptoes. It suddenly dawns on me how stupid this plan is. If he's awake, all he has to do is push me off the ledge. I inch my way to the entrance. My fingers numb from holding onto the snow covered mountain. He's passed out on the floor in a sleeping bag. He has seemed to put all the supplies back into the bag. If there are many. Perhaps he only had a sleep bag, a bowl, and some matches. What if there is nothing more in this bag. I don't have time to check. I slip the bag over my shoulders, and head back outside. It's a harder task climbing across the ledge with the bag, I hold my breath the whole way. Once across the ledge I feel it's safe to buckle the bag cross my chest and stomach. As I assumed they made a loud clicking noise that could have easily woken the boy up.

I rush back down the mountain. I slip and fall on my butt, it hurts but I stand back up and keep going. I make it too the trees. I stop once part way inside and slip the bag off. I unzip the jacket and shake all the snow off of it. It'll still be cold so I leave it off. Luckily the t-shirt underneath is black. I take the pants off as well and shake the snow off of them. I let it lay to dry beside the jacket. I open the backpack and quickly check the supplies inside. I need to move away from the base of the mountain. If the boy wakes up he'll be down here in minutes. I find lip balm, a bag of granola, thermal socks, rope, an extra t-shirt (thought it'll be too big on me), matches, and an extra blanket. I shove my jacket and pants into the backpack and strap it back on. I then wrap the blanket around myself and the backpack. The warmth is amazing. It's a dark blanket, and it'll hide the bright yellow pocket on the backpack. The backpack also keeps the blanket from dragging on the ground. I set off into the forest, I won't find a place to sleep for a couple more hours.


	12. Chapter 12 - The First Morning

**AN: I hope you've enjoyed the story so far! **

**The First Morning**

**Topanga's POV**

I wake up and almost scream. The pain in my side is unbearable. I can't even sit up. I'm laying on the ground in the middle of the forest. I don't remember falling asleep. I don't remember getting here. I hold back the tears in my eyes as I struggle to unzip my jacket. Any movement sends pain through my whole body. But I have to sit up, and I have to take the jacket off. I almost pass out from the pain. I manage to take a few deep breaths, struggling not to let curse words slip. Princesses don't curse. Once I get the jacket off I stop to rest. My head spins and throbs. And I throw up what little food is in my body. I laugh. I must look really sexy right now. My face is literally covered in blood, sweat, and tears. Not to mention there has to be a big bruise from the Career girl's fist across my cheek. There is dirt and leafs in my hair, and once again my nails are caked in dirt. How sexy can all of that be? Slowly I pull my shirt up and exam my left side.

"Shit." I say through clinched teeth. I drop my shirt and hold back more throw up. From my hip up to my armpit is a deep purple bruise, with shades of yellow and green mixed in. I close my eyes. I have to get this fixed or I won't be able to do anything. I pick up my jacket and slowly force myself to stand up. I lean against a tree, waiting for the black spots to leave my eyes. _If you get into any major trouble, play the ditzy princess. _That's what Cruise told me. I press my lips together tightly to keep myself from cursing. Then I shake my head back, letting my hair fall against my back. This will never work.

"I wonder if anything in this forest helps heal pain." I say in a sing-song voice. Too fake. I shake my head. It's useless. I can't play the ditzy princess. Even if I wasn't in pain, wasn't covered in dirt and blood, wasn't fighting for my life, I could never be a ditzy princess.

Stupid bitch. I hope I knocked half her teeth out with that head butt. These are things I can't say.

I force myself to lift my shirt up again, I make sure the whole bruise is visible. I only drop my shirt when the black spots cloud my vision. They _had _to see that bruise! I hear a sound behind me, it's hard to spin around fast, and I fear it's the Careers. But it's not, it's a gift from a sponsor! I want to cry, but I can't. If I break down and cry every time I get a gift people will stop sending them. I move over to the parachute as quickly as I can. My fingers stumble to open it.

Drink half the bottle, rest for thirty minutes, stay hidden - C.N.

Quickly I untwist the cap on the small bottle and shove it in my mouth, the liquid is warm, it feels like it's burning my throat, but I chug half the bottle down anyway. Once the liquid is in my body I can feel it burning still, but the burn in moving over toward my broken ribs. Now instead of hurting my ribs burn. Great.

The second half of the message said 'stay hidden' I wonder how close someone is to me? How can I get any more hidden? I'm out in the forest. I can't climb a tree yet, and walking any farther is out of the question. So I'm just staying where I am.

**Lex POV**

It's morning and I'm almost scared to leave my makeshift camp. I managed to find a place close to a small creek. I have to purify the water before I drink it, it taste salty and probably flows right out of the ocean. At least I think there is an ocean, it seems like there is. Last night I could hear what sounded like waves, and the salty water in the creek helped confirm what I was thinking. I need to figure out what to do about food though. I have a bag of dried fruit, which I really am not a huge fan of. I decide to see how much there is tough, which isn't much. It'll probably last me for five "meals." Not even enough to make it through two days. Luckily where I slept wasn't too cold, so not having a blanket was ok. But I might need one eventually. I should have taken someone's offer to team up with them. But I know they only wanted to team up after my score, before that no one dared think of me as someone they might work with. That's why I turned offers down. I didn't want anyone using me. I shove my jacket into my bag and start walking toward the ocean. I have no real goal, I just want to see if there might be anything useful.

**Stiles POV**

Topanga never came looking for medicine or supplies. So I know she's still out in the forest with nothing. No one dared team up with her because they know she is our target, teaming with her means instant death. But she could have gotten medicine from sponsors over night. If she was as hurt as Madeline claims someone might have taken pity on her.

I eat a quick breakfast, grab my knife and a water bottle, then set out to find her. I insist someone has to stay behind and watch the Cornucopia. It had all of our supplies, we couldn't leave it. Billi volunteered to stay behind. So five of us set into the forest. With broken ribs she probably couldn't climb up hill that fast, so I decide we better head the direction with the smallest incline. The sun is barely up, but it's orange rays are blinding. The forest is thicker than I originally though. How did she manage to get through this at all. Penny is to keep looking up in trees. If Topanga got a sponsor gift she might be right above our heads. If not she's lying pitifully on the ground somewhere. I'm hoping for the later.

Seth is like a bulldozer, everywhere he walks he makes noise. If Topanga was around here she'll hear us coming from a mile away. Next time I'm going to make Seth stay behind as guard.

"Look." Jasper points out a small trail of broken sticks. We follow it and come across a creek. "Well whoever came through here must have been happy to see they can get water somewhere other than the river."

"Yeah, that's not good." I say. "If too many tributes find this they'll never come out of the forest." I start to follow the creek upstream.

"What are you doing?" Madeline ask. I don't answer her. She'll see. I smile to myself, they'll be impressed when they see. About an hour of following the creek upstream I start to hear waves.

"Told you there was an ocean." Seth says. I ignore him. Soon the creek leads to a small valley, and on the other side of the valley an ocean. It's hard to see but there is a small island way out there.

"Think anyone was dumb enough to swim to that?" I ask Seth.

He shakes his head "I wouldn't even attempt that. Not this early in the game anyway."

"Good," I remember why I did all this in the first place. "Help me put a dam up, so the creek will stop flowing into the woods eventually." We gather rocks and pile them up at the edge of the forest. I'm pleased with our work. Soon the creek in the forest won't be there, and tributes will be forced to leave the forest.

**Billi POV**

I volunteer to stay behind and guard our supplies. We have most of them piled up beside the cornucopia. I pace back and forth spinning a spear absentmindedly, waiting to hear a cannon go off. But it doesn't and about three hours after they left my partners make their way back.

"Well?" I ask them, "What happened."

"We'll go back out in about an hour. Seth will stay here and guard the supplies. Billi, you'll come with us." Stiles commands. Maybe I don't want to, ever think of that Stiles? I agree to go with him though, I can't cross his path, not yet. I know he wants me to be the first to go out of the Careers, I can't let that happen.

We make our way to the mountain, we walk along the base of it and soon find a trail of foot prints heading up. Whoever climbed this mountain was an idiot and did a horrible job at hiding their trail. There are no prints heading down the mountain, so where climbed it is still up there. Stiles starts to hike up the mountain, taking long strides.

"It's not going to be Topanga." I tell him.

"I know," He says, "But we might as well get this tribute out of the way." I cringe. _Out of the way. _It's such a harsh term, like their lives don't matter as much as ours. I want to tell him that whoever is hiding up on this mountain is probably worth ten times more than him. The footprints lead us to a ledge, which leads right into a cave. Whoever is in there is trapped. They'll be dead in minutes.

Stiles steps onto the ledge, Madeline sticks close to him. Stupid girl, if she thinks there is going to be something romantic between then she is in for a whole lot of disappointment. Stiles is only capable of loving himself. I'm half way across the ledge when I hear a shout and pleads inside the cave. Whoever is in there had to know we were coming. Maybe he thinks he can bargain with us. I step into the cave.

Stiles has the boy from District 10 pressed against the cave wall. Madeline twirls one of her daggers in her hand, letting a glimmer of light flash off the blade. I watch as the boy pleads, tears filling his eyes. It's stupid that Stiles and Madeline feel the need to taunt the boy before they kill him. Penny and Jasper decided to join in on the 'fun' and I find myself the odd man out as I stand off to the side and watch as they take the boys few supplies from him. I want to tell him to stop pleading and crying, that it only feeds their sick twisted minds, giving them unnerving pleasure. Maybe they are putting on a good show for the Capitol, but the parents of this boy are watching as well. I know what it's like to sit and watch tributes get taunted, bullied, and beaten before killed. My brother had joined in on some of it, and it made me sick, it was a side of him I'd never seen before.

"Stop!" I cry as Stiles runs the blade of his knife softly across the boys cheek. "Just stop!"

"Stop?" Stiles asks me, turning from the boy. Instantly Penny gets in the boys face and starts to speak softly to him, telling him he better say goodbye to his family.

"If you are going to kill him, just get it over with." I say. That made Stiles mad. Quickly I think of something to say that he'll want to hear. "The longer we spend in this cave taunting him the longer Topanga has to get sponsors. Which means she'll have medicine, weapons, food. We're just giving her time to get better, and we want her dead."

That's what he wanted to here. Stiles spins back around to face the boy.

"Move Penny." He says. She does, and he slides the blade of his knife across the boys neck. His body slides down the wall. For a few seconds I see that he's trying to hold onto life, that his brain hasn't fully processed what just happened. Then as the blood flows down onto his shirt the life in his eyes is gone, and his body slumps over a little more.

"There." Stiles says after the boys cannon goes off. "Let's go find The Princess."


	13. Chapter 13 - The Human Chameleon

**AN: A chapter about Zila Monument doing her thing.**

* * *

**The Human Chameleon**

**Lex POV**

Day two had only one death, the boy from 10. The fact that I've made it to day three seems like a miracle. I spent most of yesterday collecting berries, they aren't much (my stomach still growls) but it's something. I set off back toward the creek, I don't want to spend too much time there, considering most of the tributes will be looking for water. The best thing I can think of doing is avoiding the other tributes as long as possible. All I have is a knife, and I'm not very thrilled about using it on people.

I make it too the creek to see it's not flowing as well as before, most of the water is gone. I kneel down and touch the wet dirt. What happened to it? I slide my bag off my shoulder and take out my water canteen and purifier out. I crouch by the drying creek and let as much water as possible fill the canteen. Then I drop some of the purifier into it.

I walk a few feet up the creek, checking for any signs of why it'd be drying up. But there is nothing. I head back toward my bag.

No!

It's gone. I jog a little farther, did I leave it somewhere else? No, I didn't. I only walked a few feet away, I would have seen somebody taking my bag, I would have heard them!

It hits me. The girl they are calling The Human Chameleon. Slight panic takes over. Is she still here? She has my knife. Is she going to kill me right now? I spin around, looking for any signs of her. There is nothing. The forest around me is silent except for the soft sound of leaves in the breeze.

**Zila POV**

I rush off with the boys backpack. It's small, much smaller than the one I took from the boy in the cave. I climb up into a tree then open the small bag. There isn't much, but every little thing I collect helps. I open a bag of berries and grin. These are fresh picked. The boy is smart, he knows what is good to eat and what isn't. So I pop the berries into my mouth. I hear him coming up behind me, I turn to watch him run underneath my tree. I grin. I let him get out of sight before I set off again. Now I have a knife, it's small, but it's protection.

I keep walking, the breeze feels nice and I even stop by the creek the boy was at to sip on some of the water. It's salty, but that's ok. I head out into the trees but stay on a path to follow the creek upstream.

I can hear the waves before I'm out of the forest. I climb a tree then move across through the limbs until I'm at the outer row. I look out at the valley and the ocean. A couple tributes are walking up the beach. I can't make out their faces well but I think it's the tributes from 7. Weird, I figured they'd stick to the forest. I watch them, they toss a net out into the waves. Are they good fishers?

About thirty minutes later they have a small pile of fish, and they looked pleased with themselves. For kids who grew up in a forest they did do a good job at fishing. They boy starts gutting the fish as the girl quickly sets up a fire. I sit in my tree and watch, not having much else to do. I am The Human Chameleon, but walking up on a beach and stealing their fish out of their hands is impossible. They cook their fish quickly and start to eat them. I can only imagine how good they must taste. I'm lost in the thought of eating freshly cooked fish and I don't notice that someone is coming out of the forest farther down the beach. I don't notice the person until they are running toward the tributes.

It's the girl from District 3, her red hair caked in mud, her face covered in blood and dirt, her hands and clothes are filthy. She's already had a rough three days. She doesn't have a weapon, but the two from 7 are frightened anyways, and run off toward the forest. The girl from 3 doesn't follow them, she runs over to their fire and their fish. She quickly stabs their cooking stick through one of the fish and holds it over the fire. That's one way to take someone else's food.

I consider following the two from 7 into the woods. But they left their fishing net behind. And they only had a couple small bags. If the girl from 3 doesn't take their net when she leaves, I can try fishing myself.

She finishes eating her fish and a parachute lands close by her. She pulls it out of the sand and opens it. I can't see what it is, but she doesn't look too happy about it.

**Topanga POV**

A bar of soap!? Of course Cruise would send me a freakin' bar of soap! I'm starving over here, chasing kids away so I can eat fish, and Cruise sends me soap. I take the bar out of the parachute and walk over to the ocean. Our suits are waterproof, so I don't even have to worry about getting undressed. I step into the tide and push the soap under the salty water, I lather up my hands then scrub my face. The soap and the salt burn my eyes. But I don't care. It's hard to wash my hair, dry clumps of mud cling to it. But eventually I fill it's clean enough and I step out of the water. I step back over to the fire and realize the last two fish are missing.

"You've got to be kidding me." I say out load. There is no way those two from 7 came back. I look around, wasn't there a net sitting by the fire too? It's gone. Great. Now I'm left with nothing again. "Well at least I have soap." I say, I can't hide the sarcasm in my voice. He wants me to be a princess so he sends me soap. How about sending me something a princess would eat? Like a nice bowl of warm soup, or strawberries, something useful!


	14. Chapter 14 - The Princess & The Birds

**AN: Topanga Lynn doing what she does best. Surviving. (Yes, I know it's a cheesy chapter title...)**

* * *

**The Princess & The Birds**

**Topanga POV**

I make my way up the river, it's flowing harder than it was the first day. I find a tree laying across it and I walk over to reach the other side. Fields stretch out farther than I can see. I really want to find the Barrier, to study it and see what I can figure out about it. But who knows what lies in those fields. The grass is up to my waist, and the crop fields are probably filled with mutts. Instead I stick to the outskirts of the fields, and I run my hand atop the tall grass, letting it tickle my palm.

Something flies out of the grass beside me and I yelp, but I see it's a bird, now flying up above me. My heart rate steadies and I continue walking. Soon I can see the Cornucopia, just sitting there. I know the Careers won't be dumb enough to leave their supplies behind unarmed, they'll probably leave one person. I'll bet anything that Stiles is out in the forest looking for me right now. Who did they leave behind? I go as close as I dare, I can see a pile of supplies just waiting for me. I want to run up to it and grab food, weapons, a blanket, anything I can get my hands on.

It's now or never. I'll never survive without the supplies anyways. I might as well try and get it. I bolt. I'm to the cornucopia quickly. I see her, it's the girl from 4. The girl that scored a ten because she is an expert at throwing spears. I don't stop running thought. I reach the pile of supplies and grab the first weapon I see, a machete. I have no idea how to use it, Cruise showed me how useful an ax is more than other weapons, but the machete is sharp, and sharp is good.

"Hey!" The girl calls angrily. I need more supplies. I quickly grab a bag and start to run away. A spear lands in the ground next to me. My heart drops. She's going to kill me. But no other spears come my way, and I'm quickly running in the direction of the mountain. I run until I can't breathe. I gasp for breath and collapse to the ground. She didn't follow me. I stare up at the sky, my chest rises and falls, and for a long time all I can hear is my heart pounding in my ears.

I sit up and look around. I'm completely in the open. But I don't care. I open the bag I stole and pull the supplies out of it. A water bottle, some matches, a sleeping bag, some rope, a bandage wrap, and a t-shirt. It's not much, but it's something. Plus I have a machete.

I look around, not sure which direction I should go in. I'm not much of a hiker, and I quickly cross the mountain off the list. I look back over in the direction of the forest. I'd have to cross the river again, and what are the chances of finding another fallen tree. The fields still seem scary to me, but maybe it'll be worth it. There is wheat out there to eat.

I set off through the tall grass. I make it about halfway to the wheat when I hear rustling noises around me. Crap. I freeze. I hear it again. Not good. I hold my machete out in front of me, I turn left and right as I hear the noises. It's impossible to see what's on the ground, the grass is too tall.

A bird flies out and heads right toward me. I yelp and swing my machete at it. I hit it's wing and it falls to the left. Another bird flies out. It's talons are sharp and long, they point right at me. I shriek and swing my machete out at it. Suddenly more of them are around. One catches my wrist, it's talons cut into my skin. I yell and swing the machete as hard as I can, cutting through the birds body. Five or six of them swarm me, ripping at my clothes and my skin. I swing my machete as hard and fast as I can. I swing and punch with my other hand. I start running out of the field.

_These birds are **not** going to be the death of me._

I protect my face and neck the most, cutting any bird that gets too close. They are fast, and it's hard to tell which direction they will come from. I duck as one reaches out toward my face. Not today bird. I swing the machete and cut its legs off. The bird squawks and flaps frantically. It's a horrific sight, it's talons fall to the ground by my feet, blood pouring from its stubs. I keep running, and soon I'm out of the grass. A couple birds follow, but the other few hand back into the field. I swing at the bird, catching their wings. They. Must. Die. One hits the ground and I jab the end of the machete into its body. The other clumsily flies off back to the field.

"Son of a bitch." My senses come back to me and I fill the cuts on my arms, my back, and my legs. I realize my wrist is bleeding badly soaking most of my sleeve. I can't stop here though, I'm still too close to the field for comfort. I head back in the direction of the river, I'll wrap my wounds up there.

**Billi POV**

Stiles can't even know The Princess came over here. If he knows I let her get away he'll kill me in seconds. I considered killing her, but I also know Stiles wants to kill her. I don't have to become a killer just yet. And maybe, just maybe, when I have to break away from the Career group I can team up with her. We both have something in common. We both want to see Stiles ego ripped to shreds. Penny does too, and I consider confronting her about joining with The Princess, but I don't dare tell her. If she wants to stay a Career she'll tell Stiles in a heartbeat about my plan.


	15. Chapter 15 - The Fire

**AN: Thank you for reading this far! I hope you are enjoying the story! **

* * *

**The Fire**

**Stiles POV**

We've been in the arena for four days now. the last death was on day two. I know if the games get too boring the Gamemakers will shake things up. Has something been happening to entertain the audience? We have been messing around with weapons the past couple days. Billi and Seth will throw spears at birds and other animals. Billi never misses. I've been showing off my sword and knife skill by battling with Penny. Growing up in District 2 we've been playing with weapons our whole lives.

She spins around and slices down near my ankles, I'm quick and easily dodge the sword, I bring my sword around and cut her side. She scowls at me and throws her sword up, I block it with my own and our swords make a higher pitched _shink_ sound as they slide against each other. With our swords pointed toward the ground we swing them around and bring them back up above out heads.

"Give up?" Penny asks.

"I'm not the one with a cut in my side." I say, grinning. I push hard against her sword with my own and she is forced to lean backwards "And I'm not the one loosing." I push again and she's forced to drop her sword, I spin mine around in my hand to get a better grip as I point it toward her throat.

"Alright, alright." She says, her hands raised. "I give up." I drop my sword and Madeline cheers. Penny goes over to our tent and pulls the medicine out of her backpack. She rubs it on her side. In about an hour the wound will be closed. That's the cool thing about being a Career, we get all the best stuff from sponsors.

"That was awesome." Madeline says, smiling at me.

"I know." I say, walking over to get some water. I turn to face the forest and see smoke rising. "Look." I point to the smoke. "Let's go!" We grab our weapons and gear and set off running toward the forest.

**Zila POV**

I received my first sponsor gift yesterday, it was bread from my District. It really surprised me, because no one in my District knew who I was before I was reaped. Now I'm receiving gifts from them. I must be doing something right. My second gift came this morning. A camouflage tarp. It's really useful, because I've been using the blanket I stole the first night for my camp. I'm set up near the base of the mountain, way near the back of the arena, I could reach the barrier in ten minutes.

I have the net I stole from the beach set up as a simple trap, it took me several tries to get it right, but if anyone walks under it the net will fall on them. It won't hold them down for long, but it'll do the trick just long enough for me to gather my things and disappear. I have my blanket tossed up above my makeshift bed or leaves. It also works great for shielding the smoke from my fire, now I can replace that with the camouflage tarp and use my blanket for my bed. I've been eating berries and bird eggs, which are actually really easy to find. I boil the snow from the mountain for water using the container my bread came in.

I'm sliding the tarp up onto the branches when I smell the smoke. I look around but don't see anything, my fire has been out all night. Someone must be close, building their own fire. I quickly pack my supplies into my bag, if someone is close I may need to get away quickly. The smell gets stronger. I slide my backpack onto my back and climb up in a tree, I look around and see a fire not too far away, it's bigger than a normal camp fire. To tributes throw dirt onto the fire frantically, and I realize it got out of control. The smoke rises above the trees. Idiots. I squint to see who it is.

Phillip and another young boy. I feel a slight ping of guilt as my stomach does a flip. Phillip. I forgot about him. He wanted to be partners so desperately and I told him no.

The fire spreads over to some bushes, now the forest all around us is filled with smoke. The flames grow and tower over Phillip and the boy. They scream and start to run away. They don't get far before the Careers show up. They scream again and turn back around. I lose sight of them as the fires climbs up the trees between us. I jump down out of my tree and head toward the mountain. A cannon goes off and my heart drops. One of them was just killed by the Careers.

Heat reaches me and a tree beside me is hit with flames. How did that happen!? Again I feel heat fly by, so close its a miracle it didn't burn me. I'm forced to turn left as the flames spread in front of me. Now the forest all around me is burning, and I'm breathing in smoke. Another cannon goes off, but I barely hear it through the sound of flames crackling on trees. A limb falls in front of me. I jump over it quickly, flames catch my arm. I run as quickly as I can back in the direction of the mountain while beating the flames on my waterproof suit, which has melted onto my skin from the heat. If I can reach the snow on the mountain I'll be alright. It's hard to see where I'm going, smoke clouds my vision. The heat rises.

I collide with something hard and spin onto the ground, landing hard on my stomach. I'm winded and my vision blurs. Then I'm being pulled up by my backpack. Through the smoke I see the one handed kid. My first instinct is to run from him, but then I realize he's helping me. Together we pull each other through the burning forest and up onto the mountain. We climb until the smoke clears the we collapse into the cold snow.

I lay on my back and I cough until I feel like I'm going to cough up my lungs. My arm hurts from the burn. I clinch my teeth as I scoop up snow and place it over the burn. The cold hurts but feels good at the same time. I turn my head to look at the boy. Lex, that's his name.

"Thank you." I say, my voice raspy.

"Yeah." He says. He coughs just as bad. "Did you burn your arm?" He sits up. I nod my head. I still don't feel like I can sit up. "The forest stopped burning." He says, standing up to get a better view. I force myself to sit up and look. Smoke still rises slowly, but all the fire is gone.

"Gamemakers." I say. He holds his hand out and I take it. He pulls me to my feet. "They started that fire."

**Lex POV**

Zila leads me to a cave, it's hard to get too but we make it. We sit inside freezing, but neither of us are willing to light a fire just yet. I check her arm, which is burnt up pretty bad.

"Do you have something you can bite down on?" I ask her. She digs in her backpack and pulls out a t-shirt. I twist it up and place it between her teeth. "This will hurt." I tell her. She nods, telling me she's ready for it. I grab onto the melted piece of her suit, which sticks to her skin, and pull it up as hard as I can. I hear her squeak, trying hard not to make any noise. Her eyes water and she closes them tightly. I grab another piece and pull it, it takes a chunk of her skin. She almost passes out and I grab onto her shoulder to steady her.

"Breath." I remind her. Even through the soot on her face I can see she's really pale. I take the shirt out of her mouth. "Breath." I say again, she tries to take deep breaths but cough from the smoke in her lungs.

"Let me lay down." She says.

"Not yet," I tell her, "Let me finish getting this plastic off your skin."

"Ok." She says, tears in her eyes. "Quickly." She takes the rolled up t-shirt and places it back between her teeth. I look at her arm and give a silent apology as I rip more of her skin off. She screams, the shirt only muffles it slightly. Then she passes out.

I step carefully outside of the cave and soak the t-shirt in the snow, then I place it on her forehead. I open her backpack and see the knife that belonged to me. I grin as I pull more supplies out. How much of this did she steal from others? She really is good at being invisible. Something hits the cave floor and I jump, a parachute sits just in the entrance. I rush over to it and open it.

Apply gel onto her arm - D.H.

I open the smaller container and walk over to Zila. I scoop the gel onto my fingers and spread it onto her burnt arm. Hopefully this works quickly.

I start coughing and realize just how bad of shape I am in. I wasn't in the center of the fire like Zila was, but I took in a lot of smoke. The second parachute scares me just as badly as the first. Inside is two full bottles of water from D.H. I smile and open one for myself. I finish the bottle. I shouldn't have drank it so quickly, but the liquid felt good on my sore throat. Zila wakes up about five minutes later, and is pleased to see the gifts from her sponsor. Night falls and we sit in the cave and wait for the Capital's anthem to start playing. Two faces appear above us. The boy from 6 and the boy from 9.


	16. Chapter 16 - The River

**AN: I've actually had the idea for this chapter for awhile. I hope you like it!**

* * *

**The Bridge**

**Billi POV**

After the fire all of us with the Careers received gifts from sponsors. We were coughing from smoke, and Madeline got burnt slightly. It's morning now and we all seem to be better. I step out of my tent to see Stiles picking through our supplies looking for something good to eat.

"How about an apple." I suggest, walking over to our supplies to find something for myself.

"I need something with more protein. I know we had some protein bars around here." He says, digging through the pile of single wrapped foods. I shrug and take an apple for myself. I go sit by the river, which flows harder each day.

"Are you planning on going to look for anyone today?" I ask Stiles.

"Maybe. After the fire anyone out there probably won't expect us to go look today." He sits beside me. "Why, you wanna join us? You haven't gotten a kill yet."

"No, actually I was thinking I want to rest. I actually still feel pretty rough from yesterday." Lies, I just don't want to become a killer yet. I find it insane that the Careers are dividing up kills. Yesterday Stiles let Madeline kill one of those kids because she hasn't gotten to kill someone yet. I do like that he didn't offer to let me kill one of them, he doesn't like me enough for that.

"You'll have to guard our stuff." He says.

"No problem, if anyone gets too close I'll be able to get them with my spear." I say nonchalantly.

An hour later I'm happy to see my fellow Careers cross over the bridge and head into the forest. I sit and pick at the grass around me. It doesn't take long for someone to show up. I hear whoever it is coming from around the other side of the cornucopia. I stand up, holding my spear.

It's The Princess.

"I'm not going to let you take our stuff today." I tell her as she advances closer, I can tell she doesn't know what my plan is. I don't know what my plan is neither.

"You let me go last time." She says. She stops walking, she stands about thirty feet away.

"I missed." I lie.

"You don't miss." She says, crossing her arms. I frown at her. She's using the same tone with me as she does when speaking to Stiles. "So either you just really messed up or you actually have a heart. I'm not sure if either is possible." Well that hurt. I press my lips together and glare at her. She has the machete she stole from us hanging by her side. She doesn't even look scared as I raise my spear. "Go ahead," she says, "throw it. You just said you missed last time. Maybe you aren't as great as your score suggest."

"I am." I say, lowering my spear. "I just don't want to kill you." She looks surprised that I say that. But only for a second, she doesn't let her stone expression waver for long.

"Why?" She snaps at me. "Why would a Career want to spear someone's life?"

"Because we all aren't killing machines." I say. I turn quickly to check the forest behind me. Please don't let the other Careers come back right now.

"Really?" She rolls her eyes and tilts her head to the side, pressing her thin lips together.

"Really." I say, do I really dare ask her to join me in the game? "Listen, I'm not a killing machine, but the other Careers, they are. And no one is going to be able to kill them if we don't find a way how to right now." I can basically see the gears turning in her head.

"Us?" She asks. I nod. She seems to believe me. I set my spear down on the ground. "Seriously, the whole surrender your weapon thing?" She questions as she walks toward me. I keep my eye on her machete. She pulls it out about half way toward me and I tense again, ready to fight. But she drops it on the ground. "How do we take them out?" She asks.

**Topanga POV**

Billi lays her plan out for me, and I agree that it's actually really good. Except for the part about me being bait. We have to move quickly, who knows how long the Careers will wonder around the forest looking for children to kill.

Billi ties a rope around her waist, then ties the other end to a tree near the bridge. Then she lowers herself into the roaring river. I stand on top of the bridge and pull up at the nails holding the boards together. It proves to be harder than I thought.

"Hurry up." Billi says. She holds herself onto the bottom of the bridge. I can only imagine how hard it is as the water sprays against her. The river pulls at her, threatening to pull her away at any minute. But she's from District 4, she can swim. She's also tied to a tree. She'll live.

"Start cutting." I tell her. I manage to pull one of the boards up. There is about three feet between the bottom of the bridge and the top of the river. Billi starts cutting at the beam running below the boards, holding the saw in her right hand and gripping onto the beam with her left. I work at getting the second board off.

"Hurry up!" She yells. The second board pops off as Billi makes her way to the other side of the bridge to cut that beam.

"I'm having to step lightly up here." I say, annoyed. I get the third board off. Just one more to go. Billi floats back to the other side of the bridge and starts cutting at it again. I can see her handy work, half way up the beam is a V. The forth board pops off and I can't help but cheer silently. I grab my own saw and start sawing a V of my own. I let my V cut reach her V cut, leaving just a tiny bit of wood between them. I carefully step over to the other side and make a second V. Then very carefully I set the boards back. It's hard to do, and I almost drop one into the river. Billi climbs back onto the bank.

"Now it's time for you to do your thing." She says. I nod. We are on separate side of the river, she's on the side of the cornucopia, and I'm on the side of the forest. I pick up the bag that Billi gave me from the cornucopia and head off near the forest. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach, this could go horribly wrong. Billi shouts, so loud I can hear her clearly as I make my way into the forest. I stand and wait.

I hear them running near my left, and I run in that direction. I have to make sure Stiles is up front when we run across the bridge. If the Careers are chasing me, Stiles will order them to let him kill me. I run through the trees diagonally so I meet with them, I see them not far away, now they just have to spot me. I let out a yelp so they hear me. Stiles freezes when he sees me. Then he grins. I bolt back in the direction of the cornucopia.

**Stiles POV**

It's her. And she has some of our stuff. I chase after her. The others stay right on my heal.

"Let me get her." I call back to them. We are out of the forest quickly. I scan the surroundings, Topanga is heading toward the bridge. Where is Billi? I sprint faster, closing in on her. She checks over her shoulder and sees I'm right behind her.

She reaches the bridge, jumping over half of it trying to put distance between us. Billi runs out of the Cornucopia. Topanga freezes. I slow my pace. Perfect.

"I get to kill her, Billi!" I call. I step onto the bridge. Topanga side steps, trying to find a way to get away. But we have her trapped. She turns and looks at me, and I swear she grins.

I fall. Wood splinters around me, cutting my hands and cheeks. I'm in the water in seconds. It's rushes around me as I sink. I kick my legs to swim upwards, but the current pulls at me. I surface and gasp for air, but I only suck in water as I get pulled under. My chest burns. I kick upwards again, trying to reach the surface. I'm pushed against the wall of the river. I'm going to die.

I scratch at the wall of mud and rock, but I lose strength. My chest screams for air, but I can find none.

My hand catches on something. I clumsily pull at it. My vision blurs, my lungs scream, the current pulls at me. I pull with the little strength I have left at whatever it is I'm holding. If I can just pull myself above water and breath.

Air! It's wonderful. I let it fill my lungs, I still breath in water, the river is ruthless, but I can breathe! The black spots clouding my vision slowly fade. My head clears and I'm able to pull myself farther out of the water. A tree root. I grabbed onto a tree root.

I am suppose to win this game. I will not die because of a river. I will not die because of anything. I lay out on the ground under the tree. I hear people running my way. I stand up. Madeline, Jasper, Penny, and Seth. They all rush over to me. Madeline runs up and wraps her arms around me. I pat her on the back then softly push her away.

"What happened?" I snap at them.

"The bridge collapsed!" Penny says. "The beams were cut underneath. Your weight made them break."

"Where's Billi?" I ask. They all look nervously at me. "She didn't go with Topanga did she?" I know the answer. The traitor. She did this! Well she just set herself up for a painful death. She knows how much I hate Topanga, now my hate for her is just the same. "You!" I jab my finger into Seth's chest. "You could have saved me!"

"But-"

"But what? You were scared. No. You're a good swimmer. You wanted me to die didn't you!" I snap. No, we don't turn on each other until all the other tributes are dead.

"No." Seth says, "No I didn't want you to die. But the river is really bad right now, I wasn't going to risk my life for-" I've heard enough. I grab his head in my hands and pull sharply. One quick simple snap and he's neck is broken. He really did just risk his life for mine. Madeline holds her hand over her mouth.

"Stiles..." She says slowly, pulling her hand away. "Stiles, let's go back to camp. You need rest." She places her hand on arm. I look over at her. She's loyal. That's good, because it's hard to know who I can trust now. We walk away from Seth's body. His cannon fires. I'm tempted to kick it over into the river, let the Gamemakers find his body then. But I don't, Madeline pulls me back to camp.

We carefully cross over the bridge, which is half way destroyed, and sit around our tents. No, no, Billi will not get away with that. She will not get away with trying to kill me, for taking our supplies, and for teaming up with The Princess. No.


	17. Chapter 17 - Partners

**AN: Sorry for the time jumping in this chapter. The last chapter was Day 5, so is this one. It starts off where the last chapter left off, then when it reaches Zila's POV it goes back to the start of day 5. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcome!**

* * *

**Partners**

**Topanga POV**

Billi and I don't stop running until we reach the beach. I look over at Billi, she doesn't seem winded at all.

"I swear if you double cross me..." I don't need to finish my sentence, she knows what will happen.

"I'm not going too." She says, tossing the giant duffle bag onto the sand. She pull the strings, revealing a giant orange wad of plastic. "Now, it'll take a while to blow this thing up. I suggest we get started before the Careers find us."

She's right. We heard the cannon go off not too long ago. Soon the remaining Careers will have a plan to kill us. We set to work flattening out the orange plastic, stings handgoff of it. Billi finds a little plastic knob. "Grab that bag there." She points to a yellow bag beside me. I toss it to her. She pulls a pump out of it.

"How long will this take?" I ask her.

"Depends, how fast can you pump up a raft?" She asks me, she starts pumping it herself. This will take awhile. Probably too long, the Careers could be on top of us in minutes, soon they'll find out our trail toward the mountain is fake.

We take turns pumping. Thirty minutes pass. It's hard work and my arms hurt. But it's no different than my pull ups, I forced myself through the pain then. and I will now.

"So," Billi says, sitting in the sand beside me as I take the pump, "What's District 3 like?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, flipping head back to get the hair to un-stick from my sweaty forehead. Does Billi really think this is time for casual talk?

"I mean, what's life like? Technology, that must be exciting." She does sound genuinely interested. I shrug, not really sure how to answer.

"Well. I guess. I mean it's not like we have high-tech houses or anything. We aren't the capital. My mom works in a computer factory, she messes with databases and stuff. And I help move around mechanical parts for extra money."

"So you know a lot about computers?" Billi asks me.

"No. Not really. I've never actually been interested in computers. I like the stuff that goes on here better."

"What do you mean?"

"Like the barrier. Being here I've actually wanted to see how it works. What is it that keeps it up. How does it work. And when they control the time and temperature and stuff like that; how does all of that work?"

"Huh," Billi says, "I've never actually thought of it. My whole life has been fishing. My family fishes, all of them. My brothers, my parents, my aunt and uncles and cousins. We've never actually sat down and talked about the arena."

"Not even when your brother was in the games?" Immediately I regret saying it. Her face falls. "I'm so sorry." I say, I stumble to find more words.

"Don't be." Billi says, "It happened years ago." She stands up and takes the pump from me, even though I haven't been pumping long. I let her take it.

**Billi POV**

An hour after we started pumping the raft it is full. We quickly throw our supplies into it and climb on. I wish we had a life vest for Topanga. I have no clue if she can swim or not. "Just take the paddle and pull against the water." I push the raft as far as the ocean floor will let me, then I climb inside as Topanga sets to work paddling against the waves. I grab my own paddle to help her. It's hard work, mainly because Topanga doesn't know how to steer a boat.

"Ever been on an ocean before?" I ask her.

"No. And it scares me." She answers honestly.

"Can you swim?"

"Glad you finally asked." She never answers the question. We paddle toward the island for a long time, the sun starts to set. "Pretty view." Topanga says. "We don't have views like that at home."

"What do your sunsets look like?" I ask her. She shrugs. "You've never watched one?"

"Probably when I was younger. I haven't thought of a sunset in years."

"I figured that's something a Princess would do." I say. I can tell she searches for the right words. Finally she settles on:

"I'm new to this whole Princess thing." She gives a half smile. I'm jealous of that smile. Her eyes shine, her features are perfect. I suddenly become really self conscious of my own appearance. "I bet you're treated like a Princess at home." she says, catching me off guard.

"W-what?" Why would she say that, she's the beautiful one, not me.

"Being the only daughter. I bet you're daddy's little girl." She didn't say it sarcastically, or with that tone she uses when she wants to get under somebody's skin. It was nice, like she really believes that my father sees me as a princess.

"Erm." It's all I can say. No, I'm not treated like a princess at home. I'm treated like one of the guys, sometimes I think my father forgets I'm a girl. I don't even look like one. "We are close, in a few minutes the waves will carry us in the rest of the way." Topanga turns to see.

"Is that... a fire?" She asks, turning back toward me. I squint and see the faint light farther down the beach.

**Zila POV**

A partner. Do I really want a partner? I look over at Lex as he picks up my blanket.

"I don't like people touching my things." I blurt out. He turns to me.

"Oh." He places the blanket down on my backpack. "Sorry." He offers an apologetic grin. Then he glances over at the knife I keep tucked in my handmade rope belt.

"You know," he says "that was originally mine." I glance down at it. He's the one that left it laying around, he must not have wanted it too bad.

"Yeah. But are you willing to use it?" I ask him. He's face falls and he looks worried.

"Why? You don't plan on kill me with it, right?"

"No! No, nothing like that. You saved my life, and helped heal my arm. But what if we get attacked when we got back into the forest. Will you really stab someone with this?"

"Who says we are going to be attacked?" He asks.

"Because there are still ten other tributes out there. It's day five. The Gamemakers already got bored and threw fire at us. Who knows what they'll do to push us toward the other tributes."

"Us?" Lex asks, grinning. Oh yeah, us. Partners. Can I be someone's partner? I don't answer him and finish packing up my backpack.

**Lex POV**

Hiking down the mountain is much easier than hiking up, except Zila says we have to step in the same prints we climbed up in, that way no one will know we left the mountain. She's a whole different kind of smart from myself. We make it down to the forest and look around at the burnt trees.

"My net." Zila groans. She sees my questioning look and explains. "I had a net set up to trap anyone who got too close to my camp. It'll be all burnt up now."

"How did you learn to set up a trap?" I ask her. She's from District 6, it's not like they spend a lot of time in the forest. And I've never been able to find a book in my district that explains how to make traps out of nets.

"I don't know, I just messed around with it until something worked." She said.

"Really?" Wow, she really is smart.

"Yeah, I mean I've been around engineering my whole life. Well, sorta, I watched my dad build a lot of stuff when I was younger. I get the basics."

"Like trains and stuff?" I ask. Trains are really cool. I read a book that they use to not be as fast as ours are now, and they use to have trains that went underground; subways they called them, those had to be scary. She nods. I smile at her. It feels good to have someone to talk to again. It feels good to have a partner.


	18. Chapter 18 - Fruits & Berries

**AN: I've written this chapter a couple ways, I decided that this was the better version of it. I hope you like it! Thank you for reading!**

* * *

**Fruits & Berries**

**Lex POV**

I wake early and realize the sun isn't even up yet. I take my water bottle and head toward the small creek not far away. I fill the bottle and head back to camp. I sip on the water and eat a handful of dried fruit. I make a face, I've always hated the stuff.

There is a rustling sound in the tree above me and I stand up quickly. I see a glint of silver and realize it's another gift from sponsors. I grip a low brand and hoist myself up into the tree. I slide the strings of the parachute over my shoulder and climb back down to the ground. I don't know if it's for Zila or for me, but I open it anyways.

Enjoy the fresh fruit & berries - District 5

This has to be one of the best gifts yet! I wonder how many people in the district donated money for this simple yet wonderful gift. There is slices of oranges, apples, and pineapple, there is blue berries, black berries, and raspberries. I grin and eat a handful with each in it. It taste wonderful and the juices run down my chin. I shake Zila slightly to wake her. She's groans but sees I have a gift. She sits up.

"Fruit!" I tell her, holding out the container for her to take some.

"No way." She says, reaching in and taking some pineapple. She grins and pops it into her mouth. "This is amazing!" She doesn't even bother swallowing before speaking. I grin. I eat a couple of the blueberries. They are my favorite. We eat about half of the fruit in the container and decide we better save some for later.

"Think anyone else is enjoying fruits and berries?" Zila asks me. I shrug. If only it'd be as simple as tricking some tributes into eating Nightlock. Now that would be a way to win. I pick up the container and read the message again. It'd be so easy to cut the District number off.

"Zila." I say, the idea forming in my head. "You are good at staying invisible, right?"

"Invisible is my middle name." She says, smiling. "Why?"

"Because I have a plan to get rid of at least one Career without having to fight them." I grin at her.

**Zila POV**

I set out looking for Nightlock as Lex works on carefully cutting his District number off the paper with a small knife. I find a bush not far from camp and bring back a handful. I mix it in with the rest of our fruit and berries. Lex shows me the note.

Enjoy the fresh fruit & berries

"Believable?" He asks me. I nod, grinning. It's perfect. I push hard on the container lid to make it close tight again. We set off toward the Cornucopia. Lex stays back in the forest so he isn't spotted. I look around to find the best spot to go too. The girl from 2 is beside the Cornucopia watching for anyone coming from the mountain. A giant weeping willow tree is on this side of the river. But the branches extend over the river just slightly behind the girl from 2. I quickly tell Lex what I'm going to do. He tells me to be careful.

I dart across the open field between the forest and the river. It was easy. I'm small and quiet. I blend in. The Human Chameleon. I make sure the container isn't going to make any noise or slip off my back then I silently climb into the weeping willow. There is a slight breeze, perfect. I stay hidden behind the thick green of the tree as I walk on my tiptoes across the thick branches. I look down at the river below me. For a split second I imagine falling. The river flows violently. I'd be washed away for sure. I push the thought out of my mind as I find a place to crouch and hide. I open the parachute wide to make sure it's caught in the breeze.

I let go. The parachute glides down slowly, the breeze pulling it closer to the cornucopia. I back up so I'm on the other side of the river again, near the trunk of the tree. I quickly slide down to the ground and dear glance over my shoulder as I head back toward the forest. I see the girl open the container and grin. I grin as well, because the last thing I see her do before I turn back around to face the forest is shove a giant handful of fruit and berries into her mouth.

**Stiles POV**

"I want to rip her lungs out!" I growl at Madeline. "It's been two days since I fell through the bridge and she's still out there!"

"Which one? Billi or The Princess?" Madeline asks.

"Both!" I say. I want both of them dead. A cannon goes off. I wonder who it is. Maybe Topanga killed Billi, or Billi killed Topanga. Maybe one of them is dead!

"Hey! Guys!" Seth calls, "Get out here!" I step out of the tent and see Seth crouching beside Penny. He holds a sponsor gift in his hand.

"What happened?" I ask, walking over to him and taking the container. I glance over at Penny. She's dead. "She died from eating this?" I ask, looking in at the fruits and berries. Madeline steps beside me and glances into the container, she picks through the fruits and pulls out a handful of berries.

"Nightlock." She says.

"In a sponsor gift?" Seth asks.

"It wasn't from sponsors." I say. Picking the small note out of the container. I studied the edges, and part of it was cut off. "Originally it was from sponsors, but someone messed with it. Adding the Nightlock."

"How did they get it to her though?" Madeline asks.

I look up at the big weeping willow tree, "by being invisible."


	19. Chapter 19 - The New Rule

**AN: I have the next couple chapters written! Woo! Here is chapter 19. It's rather short and just a chapter about, well, the new rule! Enjoy!**

**The New Rule**

**Stiles POV**

I throw the poisoned sponsor gift down onto the ground and march over to our supplies. I start strapping on any weapon I can find.

_"Attention Tributes."_ I stop dead in my tracks, that's the Head Gamemaker _"A new rule has just been approved, from this point on no tribute will receive gifts from sponsors. This will be the only announcement."_

I grab onto the first thing I see and throw it as hard as I can against the Cornucopia wall. No more sponsor gifts means we could quickly run out of food and medical supplies. Billi and Topanga run off with half of our stuff. Madeline comes to stand beside me.

"Hey, it's no big deal. We'll just take stuff from tributes after we kill them." She says, placing her hand on my arm. I look at her, it's a good idea, but how much stuff do those tributes really have out there with them?

**Billi POV**

We've been on the island for two days now, everything has been going well. Topanga was worried about mutts but there doesn't seem to be any. And it's very clear that people are fans of us working together. We each received a sponsor gift yesterday. Topanga got soap and I got a fishing net. We also found out Stiles didn't die, but Seth did. I wonder if he drown in the river or not. He's a good swimmer, so I don't think that's what he died from. Also just last night another cannon fired for the female tribute from District 7, I wonder who or what killed her. Now after the two days we've been on the island a third cannon fires. Not soon after the cannon the Head Gamemakers voice booms around the arena.

_"Attention Tributes. A new rule has just been approved, from this point on no tribute will receive gifts from sponsors. This will be the only announcement."_

**Topanga POV**

No more sponsor gifts?

"Yes!" I shout. Billi looks over at me.

"Is it just me or are you a little too excited about that?"

"You don't understand!" I say, standing up out of excitement. "If the sponsors can't send us gifts, then I don't have to impress anybody!" I realize there is something I've been wanting to say. "I _hate _having to be a princess! I hate having to worry about being sexy! I hate not being able to swear! I hate that I have to worry about cleaning under my nails every damn minute! Don't you understand! I can finally play this game how I want to play it!" I grin, I can't help but like the rule. I only get shitty soap anyways, now I don't have to be sexy to be liked, I can be who I want to be. There's no need to impress anyone anymore! The excitement bubbles in my chest. I grab the soap Cruise sent me. My whole body tingles from excitement as I run down to the shore line. I pass the soap back and forth between my palms, then I steady myself and throw it as far as I can into the ocean. It disappears into the waves. The Princess is gone!

**Lex POV**

Zila and I run back to our camp, grinning and high-fiveing the whole way! We did it, we killed a Career! We make it back to camp and collapse onto the ground. I grin. I did it! I proved that I'm not useless.

_"Attention Tributes. A new rule has just been approved, from this point on no tribute will receive gifts from sponsors. This will be the only announcement." _

Uh-oh. I glance over at Zila, she looks as worried as I feel.

"They didn't do that because of us, did they?" She asks.

"I think so." I say. That's really not good. If we did something so bad that they changed the rules of the game, then we may not have a chance of winning. They may do anything they can to kill us. They may see what we just did as a sign of rebellion. My family. They could hurt my family if they think I'm rebelling.

**Zila POV**

Lex gets really upset about the rule change. He actually tears up some. He doesn't tell me what he's thinking, but I'm pretty sure I can guess. They just changed the rules midway through the game. That hardly ever happens, and if it does it normally means one of the tributes did something illegal, and soon that tribute will pay the price for it. So now all Lex and I can do and sit and wait for the Gamemakers to send us to our deaths.


	20. Chapter 20 - The Necklace

**AN: I'm to chapter 20! Thank you if you are still reading! The end is coming soon! **

**The Necklace**

**Stiles POV**

I'm going to find her and I'm going to kill her. Because of her I won't get my gifts. I rush through the trees, I know she'll be hidden, but I'll flush her out of the woods. There was already one fire, I'll just start another. Madeline will stay at the cornucopia, if she sees her run out of the woods she'll capture her, if she runs toward the mountain then Jasper will capture her, I'll wait at the beach. Hopefully she comes toward me.

I run quickly through the forest, I want to make it toward the back quickly. I freeze when I see a blanket pitched up as a tent to my right. She won't be there, the is no way she'll be out in the open like that. I consider killing whoever is at this camp, but then I remember I'm going to be lighting a fire, they might die anyways. I don't want to waste time on these tributes. I start running through the forest again.

**Lex POV**

This plan is bad, this plan is bad, this plan is bad. Zila swears it'll work. She's smart, and I actually trust her, so I agree to go along with it. We quickly toss Zila's blanket up over a tree close to a clear path that is clearly used by many tributes. After the announcement of the rule change we know the Careers will be after us, if they figure out it was us who did it.

"Are you sure they'll see it?" I ask Zila. She snaps a few branches to make the blanket stand out more. She glances at me, her white blonde hair falling over her face.

"I based my whole game around not being seen," she grabs unto a low tree branch and pulls herself up, "So now I'm just doing the opposite of what I'd normally do."

"And since you are The Human Chameleon, and blend into your surroundings perfectly, if you do the opposite of being The Human Chameleon then you'll stand out in your surroundings." I say. She looks down at me from the tree, she cocks her head to the side like dogs do when you speak to them.

"Yeah..." she says, a small frown on her face, "If you want to make it sound complicated." But then she grins and climbs back into the tree, disappearing quickly. I take our things and quickly leave the camp. Hopefully the next cannon I hear is for one of the Careers, not Zila. I run for about fifteen minutes then climb up in a tree and sit perfectly still. This plan is bad.

**Zila POV**

I really have no way of knowing if the Careers will run through this part of the forest, but hopefully they just stick to the semi-beaten path. I sit up in a tree above the blanket-tent. I don't have to wait long, soon after the announcement I hear someone stomping through the woods. I steady myself on the branch.

He passes below me, the boy from 2 with a high score, he stops and looks over at the tent I made. I hold my breath. I can't believe I'm doing this. I hold the small knife in my hand. I'm not a fighter. But I knew going in that I'd have to fight eventually. I wait for him to walk over to the tent. But he doesn't. My heart speeds up. He was suppose to walk over to the tent! Why did he just leave it alone? The tent was the trap!

My mind races. Do I follow him!? Do I abandoned the plan!? Do I wait for him to come back!? He's out of sight but I can still hear him. I jump down from my tree and follow him. I catch up to where I can see him. He sprints through the forest, and it's hard to stay quiet as I sprint after him, but I step at the same time as him, so he's steps muffle mine.

I can tell we are getting close to the barrier and I start to get nervous. What is he doing!?

He stops and looks around, the he starts to chop down branches and gather leaves. Has he gone insane? I stand and watch, I can't fight him, not like this. I head off to where Lex is suppose to be hiding. I want to get as far away from the Career from District 2 as possible.

Pain shoots through across my neck. I gasp, it's cut short as no air makes it down my throat. I land on my back. Hard. If there was any air in my lungs it would have been pushed out from the fall. My head is snatched upwards by something cutting into my neck. I scratch at it. The necklace little Cilia gave me is being pulled tight against my neck. Cutting off my air. I start kicking my feet. I want to scream but I can't make any noise. Black spots cloud the corners of my eyes and my lungs scream. The trees around me spin and I have to stop fighting back, there is no strength left in my body to fight with.

The pain stops. But I still can't breathe, it's like my brain forgot how and my lungs gave up on working. The trees start to come back into view as the black spots fade.. I sit up quickly, regretting that decision as my head spins again. Someone grabs my shoulder and I spin fast, hitting whoever it is as hard as I can.

It's Lex. "I'm so sorry!" I say. He holds his jaw. "I didn't know it was you!"

"No problem." He says, spitting blood onto the ground. "What happened?" I look around and see the boy from District 7 laying on the ground, Lex is holding a large rock.

"I don't know. Is he dead?" I ask, pointing at the boy on the ground. Lex shakes his head no. I rub my burning neck where the necklace dug in. I look around for the knife I dropped, I see it laying, right where I had been. I snatch it up and go stand by the boy from 7. My hand shakes as I kneel down beside him, I position the knife over his chest.

"Zila?" Lex says cautiously.

"He was killing me." It's all I can say before I drive the small knife as hard as I can into his chest. Blood spills out onto my hand. His cannon fires. I can't force myself to pull the knife out of his chest.

"Let's go." Lex says. I stand up and follow him off toward the ocean so I can clean myself up.


	21. Chapter 21 - Ready to Fight

**AN: The Finale is coming soon, I'm thinking about 2-3 more chapters. Thank you to those who are still reading; I really appreciate it! I hope you are liking the story. **

**Ready to Fight**

**Billi POV**

It's been a week and only seven tributes are still alive. Today two cannons have gone off.

I look over at Topanga, who is trying to catch fish with the net I received before the rule change. I join her, she stands waste deep in the water, and as the throws the net it tangles up. She really does curse a lot.

"Need help?" I ask her.

"No." She's frustrated. I can't help but smile as she fails to toss the net again and again. "It's so heavy! It'd be easier to find food back on the mainland." Topanga hasn't liked our visit to the island, especially after the rule change, all she does is talk about going back.

"It'd also be easier to get killed on the mainland." I remind her. She shoves the fishing net into my arms then head backs up to the beach. I follow her, not really caring to catch fish right now.

She shouts, "I don't want to be on this island anymore! I can finally go give the Careers a piece of my mind! Do you know what I've been holding in this whole time! I want to tell them what sick bastards they are, I want to tell them that killing is _not _a sport and _not _a damn game!"

"Actually, it is a game. All of this is a game, Topanga." I remind her. She sits down on the ground and I join her.

"It's a stupid game."

"Don't talk like that." I tell her.

"Why? Because the capital will be pissed? I don't care. Let them be." She takes a deep breath, "I'm not going to win anyways." She sees my warning look. We've been carefully avoiding talking about what's going to happen if we are final two. I don't know how Topanga feels, but I feel like if we meet anywhere but here, we could be great friends. I didn't plan on making a friend here, I really didn't.

Topanga decides she needs to keep venting. "I don't want to win. I mean, I really want to live. Everything in me wants to live, and I feel like I could do _anything _to survive. But I've been thinking, the Capital has seen me as the Princess from day one, I can't help that I'm pretty and I have 'capital' hair. I can't help that even now, now that they know I hate being the Princess, they will still see me that way if I return. The winner has to be the capitals puppet. The winner has to do what the capital says when the capital says to do it. It's not a life of freedom. And the reason I thought I wanted to win so bad was to be free. But I won't be free if I win, I'll always be the Princess."

She looks at me, and for the first time I don't see anger in her eyes, I see pain. She doesn't hold eye contact long and turns her head away from me, staring out at the waves.

"I want to tell the Careers that they are sick bastards too." It's all I can think to say. Topanga lets out a short laugh and rolls her eyes.

"Then let's get off this stupid island, let's stop hiding, and let's go fight." She says.

**Topanga POV**

We pack our things quickly, if we can make it to the mainland as night falls we can sneak up on the Careers, have the upper hand. The raft is slightly deflated so Billi pumps it quickly as I gather our few weapons. I spin my machete around, listening to the blade slice through the air. I grin. This machete is so much better than the ax Cruise tried to teach me to use.

Thinking about Cruise sends a sharp pain through my chest. He told me I could win this. He told me strong survival instincts was the best complement to get from the Gamemakers. What does he think of my survival instincts now? Knowing that I hate that he made me be the Princess, knowing that if maybe if he went with tough smart-ass instead of ditzy princess I'd care to make it out alive.

Billi rushes back over to me and grabs her spears. We clamber into the raft, making sure our weapons don't puncher the plastic, then start paddling out toward the mainland. It's hard work. Billi doesn't seem to struggle, I wonder how many times she's been on a boat in her life? I'm sure she's lost count.

About half way back I see smoke in the distance, out near the forest. That's not good, not good at all. How many tributes are still in that forest? Probably no more than two or three. With only seven tributes still alive it's impossible to know where everyone is. If the forest burns there might be tributes waiting at the beach. We could be heading right to them.

My tighten my grip on my paddle. Let them be there. I've suffered through broken ribs, fought off killer birds, and set up a trap for a Career. Maybe I did cry after being reaped, maybe I did doubt myself at the beginning, but the Gamemakers were right. I do have strong survival skills, I didn't even know I was capable of doing half of the things I've done. Now heading toward a fight is just something I know I have to do. I don't plan on winning, I can't let myself be used by the capital, that's no way to live. But I can make sure my friend survives.


End file.
